Human trafficking continues to thrive because there is a strong demand for cheap labour and enforcement mechanisms are weak, the director the Jesuit Refugee Service, Katrine Camilleri, yesterday told the Times of Malta.

People take advantage of countries where enforcement agencies do not check whether workers are being paid a fair amount or not, she added.

She spoke of the “many invisible chains” keeping people from speaking up: some cannot afford to lose their job because their stay in the country depends on their work, others because they paid thousands to be able to work here and some simply because they cannot speak the language.

If Malta is serious about tackling human trafficking then it needs to tackle the demand, using well-resourced, independent institutions, Dr Camilleri said.

She also called for the protection of human trafficking victims, saying that these people needed to feel secure enough to come forward. The fact that human trafficking cases were being identified was a “good thing,” she said, adding that at least the mechanisms in place were uncovering cases of trafficking.

However, one needed to see effective enforcement and prosecution that went beyond simply identifying cases, she said.