"Thousands of law enforcement officers across the United Kingdom will be empowered to join the fight against modern slavery at sea using new powers in the Modern Slavery Act which come into force today [8 August 2016]," the statement read.
The freshly granted powers include the authority "to board and search vessels, seize evidence and arrest offenders, where it is suspected that modern slavery is taking place… to intercept vessels with reasonable grounds, arrest offenders and rescue victims from ships in UK waters."
Other amendments include life-long sentences for the slavery-related crimes.
The UK Home Office’s 2014 analysis indicated that between 10,000 and 13,000 people in the United Kingdom were victims of modern slavery, including factory workers, domestic staff, and those forced into prostitution. The Modern Slavery Strategy issued on November 29, 2014 by the UK Home Office revealed that the potential victims of modern slavery were trafficked from over 100 countries, with the five most common countries of origin being Albania, Nigeria, Vietnam, Romania and the United Kingdom.
