Thousands of women are trafficked and forced to work as prostitutes

The recent conviction of five Albanian men for sex trafficking offences has prompted campaigners to ask why the UK had not signed the convention.

Anti-Slavery International says more can be done to help victims.

The Home Office said it backed action on trafficking but no decision had been made on whether to sign the convention.

On Monday, Flamur Demarku, 33, his brothers Agron and Bedari, both 21, and friend Izzet Fejzullahu, 32, were found guilty of trafficking and prostitution offences.

Another Demarku brother, Xhevair, had pleaded guilty before the trial.

The case re-ignited calls by human rights campaigners who want the UK to sign up to the convention.

What we are doing is not treating them as victims at all - providing hardly any services for them Kate Allen Amnesty International Girls forced into slavery

The European Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings, which has been signed by eight countries, provides temporary residence permits to victims endangered by return to their home countries and to those who assist with prosecutions.

It aims to provide a minimum levels of support and increased protection for victims.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The government supports fully all the aims of the convention against human trafficking."

"We want to see widespread action to tackle this abhorrent trade," she said, adding that there was a desire to protect the victims while "bringing those responsible to justice".

The Home Office said the UK is yet to sign the convention because it fears the system is potentially open to abuse by people making false claims of being trafficking victims in a bid to remain in the country.

But this suggestion has been rejected by Mary Cunneen, Director of Anti-Slavery International.

Women's rights

She told BBC Two's Newsnight programme that Italy has the convention's measures in place and has experienced a rise in prosecutions, while abuse of the immigration system has not increased.

And Kate Allen of Amnesty International described the convention as legislation which would "give the women rights as victims".

She said it would allow the women to remain in the country for a short period in which they could gain access to medical support and consider whether they wanted to seek the prosecution of traffickers.

She also criticised the UK's current stance, saying: "What we are doing is not treating them as victims at all - providing hardly any services for them.

"In that situation we are compounding what has happened to them."

Action Plan

The Home Office spokeswoman said that during its EU presidency, the UK had been a driving force behind the European Action Plan on Trafficking, which is due to be discussed by ministers in Brussels on Thursday.

She said it would provide a framework for the way in which human trafficking was treated at both a national and international level.

And she added that the Home Office hopes to find ways to prevent abuse of the immigration system.

There are no reliable figures on how many people are trafficked to Britain each year, but the Home Office estimates 1,400 women were brought to the UK to work as prostitutes in 2000.

Four charities - Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International, the National Federation of Women's Institutes and Unicef UK - are campaigning for victims to be given assistance.