A damning review has revealed serious failures in the Metropolitan Police’s recruitment and vetting processes, with thousands of officers and staff inadequately checked during a major recruitment drive. The report found that as many as 22,000 recruits between 2019 and 2023 were subject to reduced or incomplete vetting, contributing to at least 131 cases of criminality or misconduct. Among those improperly vetted were two serial rapists, who committed grave crimes while serving as police officers. Investigators concluded that pressure to meet recruitment targets, including efforts to address workforce diversity, led senior leaders to bypass national vetting standards. Thousands of references went unchecked, security clearances were skipped, and some recruits began duties before approvals were complete. Home secretary Shabana Mahmood described the failures as a 'dereliction of duty' which damaged public trust and put citizens at risk.

We are approaching the celebrations of Easter, the resurrection of Christ. As we enter Lent we may choose to fast from chocolate, phones or coffee. Right now, people are being exploited to make these everyday products. Slavery is in the supply chains of everything - the clothes we wear, the coffee we drink, the technology we use and the chocolate we eat. Slavery has been linked to the supply chains of many everyday products and commodities. Nestle, Mars and Hershey all source cocoa from West Africa, where child labour and forced labour still persist. One in three workers in Malaysia’s electronics sector may work under conditions of forced labour. Coltan and other conflict minerals in electronics devices often come from forced labour in illegal mining whose profits support armed forces. Forced labour is big business, with profits around £125 billion. Please pray that UK businesses become increasingly aware of slavery in supply chains.

In a South Asian country, approximately 15,000 women and children are trafficked each year with 1,000 being rescued. Exploitation happens frequently and many rituals and practices are hidden from sight. Although there is a minimum age for marriage, it is still common practice for children to be married off as young as twelve. A ritual where menstruating women are expected to live in a small hut away from their families for the duration is still widely practised despite being difficult for women. Child labour is still common, and many children still work in the entertainment sector, brick factories and dance bars. The sex industry has gone underground but still exists with girls that have been tricked into working. Migrant workers have left their families in search of better incomes and find themselves locked into physical labour contracts, or working as housemaids in homes where they are often abused.

Imagine being on a ship and discovering you had been sold as a slave, not sure if you will ever see your family again. There is a form of human trafficking taking place in the middle of the ocean. Thousands are forced to work in Thailand’s seven-billion-dollar fishing industry, many against their will. They are lured by the promise of a good job, then sold to boat captains who force them to do dangerous work while their families are left to wonder whether they will ever return. Ron was a Cambodian father, husband and family man in dire poverty, barely making $2 a day on his farmland. He was running out of options to feed his family. When someone came to his village, offering better options. Ron took the bait. Too late, he realised he had been sold to a ruthless boat captain in the Thai fishing industry. It is time to bring the fishermen home.

South Asia IJM are searching for two teenage girls being exploited by a private sex-trafficking network. IJM worked with police for weeks to rescue them, but at the last minute they were moved from the target location. Please pray for a new strategy to find the girls quickly, without tip-offs making the traffickers suspicious. Also, remember the Dominican Republic mother of two sex-trafficking survivors struggling to provide for her five children. The European expat perpetrator in this case is offering her increasingly large sums of money to drop accusations against him, but she refuses every time. May God strengthen her and provide for the family’s needs. Finally, thank God for Kevin Hyland, who leaves the role of UK independent anti-slavery commissioner at IJM this month. The role was created under the Modern Slavery Act of 2015, and his work has been groundbreaking in uniting forces from NGOs, the private sector, and the Government to fight modern slavery. Pray for wisdom in the selection of his replacement. See