Kevin Hyland

Former UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner

In April 2010, Kevin Hyland was named operational lead for the establishment of the Metropolitan Police Human Trafficking response in UK, with an experience of 30 years of police investigation. In 2014, he was named Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner for the UK government. He ensured that modern slavery issues are tackled in a coordinated and effective manner across the entire UK, and worked closely with law enforcement agencies, local authorities and third sector organisations to encourage good practice in the identification of victims and the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of modern slavery crimes, including international collaboration. The role requires published annual reports for Parliamentary scrutiny. Mr. Hyland authored SDG 8.7 and led efforts for its inclusion in the UN’s 15-year global goals for sustainable development. In May 2018, he resigned from his duty of UK’s first independent anti-Slavery Commissioner, citing government interference: « Much work remains, but I depart knowing that awareness at both the highest level and at that critical working level has never been greater ». In 2018, Mr Hyland was elected as Ireland’s representative to the Council of Europe Independent Group of Experts for Trafficking. He is currently Chair of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment (the leverage of major international brands to promote responsible recruitment practices in the way that migrant workers are recruited amongst business, the recruitment industry, and government) with the Institute for Human Rights and Business and a senior advisor for the Santa Marta Group.