Amanda Read

Amanda Read

  • National Vulnerability Lead
  • UK Border Force

Amanda Read is the UK Border Force National lead for Safeguarding and Modern Slavery. She heads up a network of over 600 specialist officers across near and far UK borders and ensures that these experts and the wider cadre of frontline staff are equipped to protect the vulnerable and prevent those perpetrators who may seek to exploit them. This remit can range from shaping policy; providing operational advice; leading operational intensifications and innovative campaigns; engagement with stakeholders and collaborating with wider law enforcement partners. She has over 30 years operational experience at ports across the UK, as Airport Duty Manager at Heathrow Airport, working within the Immigration detention estate and postings overseas. She received a Member of the British Empire for her services to keeping children safe.

Sessions

  • Managing Migration (organised crime as cover for migrant smuggling and THB)

    It is well established that organised crime groups are able to adapt and evolve to use any weakness or vulnerability at our borders as a cover for nefarious activities. The migration crises we are experiencing on the southern borders of the US and EU offer prime opportunities for criminal activities, including smuggling migrants for money, which is generally a voluntary transaction but leaves migrants dangerously exposed to death, injury and abuse, and THB, which is the forced trafficking of persons. Regions of Asia are also experiencing unprecedented levels of THB, often for the vice trade. What are the latest challenges with migrant smuggling and THB, how do these two crimes differ in terms of methodology and how does can the international community combat cross-border crimes or irregular migration?

  • Human trafficking: offshore protection and prevention in the UK