Human trafficking gets life sentence in slavery crackdown 18 October 2013 Last updated at 00:50 By Tom Symonds Home Affairs correspondent A maximum life sentence for the worst cases of human trafficking and exploitation is to be introduced. It comes after Home Secretary Theresa May said tougher sanctions would be brought in to tackle modern-day slavery earlier this year. The number of cases of human trafficking discovered in the UK has risen by 25% in the last year, according to new government figures. Trafficking from Albania, Poland and Lithuania has seen a big rise. Ministers are planning new legislation to simplify the law on slavery, and make it easier to bring prosecutions. Victims are often trafficked for sexual exploitation, construction work or begging gangs. A new report by the inter-departmental ministerial group on human trafficking has revealed that 1,186 victims were referred to the authorities in 2012, compared with 946 victims in 2011. The report revealed the largest number of victims of trafficking were from Nigeria, Vietnam, Albania, Romania and China. Forced begging There has been a 300% increase in Albanian trafficking, a 171% increase in victims from Lithuania, and 148% more from Poland since 2011, the report indicated. But trafficking from Romania and China had fallen, according to the figures. Public policy often involves a modest amount of 'branding' and Theresa May no doubt had this in mind during her party conference speech when she highlighted the push against 'modern-day slavery'. It's a description covering a multitude of sins, but there is a common thread. The victims are usually promised, in advance, a happy, comfortable and free life in Britain, but arrive to discover misery, squalor and varying degrees of imprisonment. Because there are so many different models of slavery, it is a problem that can only be tackled through a wide range of agencies working together. The Home Office has to create laws that can be used; prosecutors have to use them. The police have to understand the often subtle coercion implicit in trafficking. They must co-ordinate linked investigations across Britain. The new National Crime Agency must get to grips with the organised gangs, charities such as the Salvation Army need to focus on helping - and crucially identifying - the victims. But perhaps the biggest problem of all is that no-one really knows how big this problem is. How many 'modern day slaves' there are hidden in flats in our inner cities, unable physically or mentally to escape. Victims are brought to the UK do anything from work as house slaves to work in cannabis farms. Eastern European women are most likely to be used as prostitutes, according to the report. Men are most likely to be used for construction work, in particular laying paving, drives or ground work. Other victims are forced to work in nail bars or takeaways. There is also a trend towards forced begging, and benefit fraud. The trafficking gangmasters take all the proceeds, returning very little to their victims. Those targeted by the traffickers are often lured to the UK with the promise of free travel, a job and accommodation, sometimes members of their own family. An alternative is so-called 'debt bonds' where money owed must be repaid by working in the UK. In her Tory party conference speech, Mrs May said an order banning someone convicted of trafficking from being a gangmaster after their release from prison would form a key part of the new bill. She also said the government's Modern Slavery Bill would contain new anti-trafficking measures, including: Trafficking prevention orders to ensure that someone released from a sentence for a human trafficking offence cannot simply go back to being a gangmaster, They will also place restrictions on the convicted individual's ability to own a company, visit certain places or work with children or young women Seek a commitment from companies not to use slave labour The creation of the role of Modern Slavery Commissioner, who would hold law enforcement and government bodies to account