• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Police break up 400-person 'modern day slavery' ring in U.K.

Rogue Valley

Rogue Valley

Lead or get out of the way
DP Veteran
Joined
Apr 18, 2013
Messages
94,313
Reaction score
82,698
Location
Barsoom
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Independent
Police break up 400-person 'modern day slavery' ring in U.K.

Prosecutors say more than 400 victims were forced to work for minuscule wages while their masters earned some 2 million pounds and lived a luxurious lifestyle.

slavery-suspects.jpg

The gang members originally from Poland, are, top from left, Marek Chowanic, Jan Sadowski, Marek Brzezinski, Julianna Chodakiewicz,
and bottom from left, Justyna Parczewska, Jan Sadowski, Ignacy Brzezinski and Natalia Zmuda.

7/5/19
LONDON — Details about what prosecutors have called one of Britain's largest-ever modern day slavery rings have emerged with the conviction of eight people originally from Poland. Prosecutors say more than 400 victims were forced to work for minuscule wages while their masters earned some 2 million pounds ($2.5 million) and lived a luxurious lifestyle. Reporting restrictions were lifted Friday, allowing details to be published. The group preyed on the homeless, former convicts and alcoholics in Poland and lured them to Britain with false promises of well-paid work. Some ended up being paid less than $1 for a day's work and were held in squalid conditions. Victims reported being forced to wash in a canal because they had no access to fresh water, having to plug leaky toilets with their blankets and sheets, and getting food from soup kitchens and food banks because their wages were not sufficient. The group targeted vulnerable people in Poland for recruitment, including newly released convicts, and placed them in England in cramped, rat-infested lodgings. They were put to work on farms, rubbish recycling centers and poultry factories. The victims ranged from teenagers to people over 60.

Judge Mary Stacey said at the end of the first trial that the traffickers' "degradation" of fellow human beings had been "totally unacceptable." She imposed prison sentences of up to 11 years. She said the belief that slavery had been ended in Britain was not true: "The hard truth is that the practice continues, here in the U.K., often hiding in plain sight." In the second trial, which ended in June, 52-year-old Ignacy Brzezinski and Wojciech Nowakowski, 41, were convicted. A third, Jan Sadowski, 26, pleaded guilty. Convicted at the earlier trial, which ended in February, were chief conspirator Marek Chowanic, Marek Brzezinski, Julianna Chodakiewicz, Natalia Zmuda and Justyna Parczewska.
Click to expand...

Trafficking-in-persons for the purpose of servitude/slavery. After serving their sentences, deport them all back to Poland.
 
Rogue Valley said:
~ After serving their sentences, deport them all back to Poland.
Click to expand...

_107757893_bentleyjpg.jpg


This case was a shocker, one of the gang leaders had a brand new Bentley funded by the efforts of the 400 slaves working for them.
 
11 years...nowhere near long enough a prison sentence.
 
They shouldn't be allowed to lounge about in prison either. Force them to work, and give whatever proceeds they earn to their victims.
 
I think something similar to this is happening around Spain. Perhaps Chagos can chip in on this, seeing as he's a Spanish resident and may know.

Last year whilst holidaying on La Costa Tropical, I noticed an obscene amount of Looky Looky men along the promenade flogging their fake wares. In fact there were so many lined up that it actually resembled a Sunday market. They were totally unfazed by the presence of the local police (who appeared to be powerless due to the amount of Looky Looky men).

I got chatting to a local bar owner about this, and he told me that these men pay traffickers for passage from Africa to Spain, then they have to basically work off their debt with the local mafiosos until they're allowed to go free. He also said that the number of Africans appearing on the promenade has trebled in the last five years - so it's clearly big business.

It's all so incredibly blatant that I can't figure out why it's left unchallenged.
 
Snazzy said:
I think something similar to this is happening around Spain.......................~
Click to expand...
No, it's not comparable.

The Lokee-lokees have been around for decades on the Med coasts of Spain, some years more, some years less. Many years ago they actually used to be Spanish.

The cops here work on the principal that as long as they're peddling their crap they're not picking pockets or grabbing handbags.

The far greater problem of criminal exploitation lies with illegal workers employed by farm factories that don't ask to see papers. The latter being in turn lost without this form of labor that is often housed under appalling conditions and paid a pittance. With rearely w ork inspector in sight.
 
The group preyed on the homeless, former convicts and alcoholics in Poland and lured them to Britain with false promises of well-paid work. Some ended up being paid less than $1 for a day's work and were held in squalid conditions.
Click to expand...

I think these former convicts and alcoholics from Poland will never get a decent job at home, which was why they jumped at the opportunity to work in Britain. The problem with the current EU immigration arrangements is that EU migrants cannot be screened for potential problems. At least convicts need to be barred from getting in.
 
Last edited:
ThirdTerm said:
I think these former convicts and alcoholics from Poland will never get a decent job at home, which was why they jumped at the opportunity to work in Britain. The problem with the current EU immigration arrangements is that EU migrants cannot be screened for potential problems. At least convicts need to be barred from getting in.
Click to expand...

Over 6000 EU nationals have been refused admission since 2010, and in 2012, new rules regarding sharing of criminal convictions made it easier for states to check.
 
ThirdTerm said:
I think these former convicts and alcoholics from Poland will never get a decent job at home, which was why they jumped at the opportunity to work in Britain. The problem with the current EU immigration arrangements is that EU migrants cannot be screened for potential problems. At least convicts need to be barred from getting in.
Click to expand...
Well it goes both ways. Mainland Europe has been a haven for British criminals for 7 decades. Biggest and most powerful organized crime gang on the Costa del Sol, an British-Irish gang, currently in a hot war with rival gangs..

Barring people from other nations because of criminal records is only possible if you have hard borders and 100% transparency. The US has such a system in place that prevent tourists entry because of minor 20 year old convictions or because they have a name that sounds like a wanted terrorist. Not sure if I would want that in Europe or anywhere frankly. Too much East Germany for my tastes.

Sent from my Honor 8X using Tapatalk
 
Just sayin....this is the kind of thing you can expect when you bring people from ****hole countries into your country. They tend to import their values.
 
VanceMack said:
Just sayin....this is the kind of thing you can expect when you bring people from ****hole countries into your country. They tend to import their values.
Click to expand...

Poland is a ====hole country and Polish people have +===hole values?
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Poland is a ====hole country and Polish people have +===hole values?
Click to expand...
****hole enough to produce that lot. This isnt the first place that a group from Poland committed the same kind of acts. A gang of them were caught doing the same thing in Italy. Another group did the same thing in the UK back in 2011. In 2003 it was estimated that some 10,000 polish women and young girls a year are kidnapped by Poles and pimped out to prostitution rings throughout Russia and Europe.

So...yeah...its bad enough.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom