According to official statistics, the number of human trafficking victims identified in the UK has surged by nearly 80 percent in just a year.

The latest data from the National Crime Agency (NCA) goes back to 2015, with 306 cases of trafficking reported by local councils and over ten-fold that number by other sources.

Some cities saw a very clear increase in the numbers of reported human trafficking victims, including greater Manchester which saw a 197 percent increase.

Press TV reports:

Authorities say labor exploitation is the most common fate of trafficking victims in Britain.

In spite of the significant increase in the reported cases of abuse, there are still up to 13,000 victims of human trafficking in the UK…