Wednesday 26 September 2007

Vanished: the child victims of trafficking

Full Story:
http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0293.htm
180 children missing from social care after being brought illegally to UK
More than 180 children recently trafficked illegally into the UK have since gone missing without trace from social services care, according to a Unicef report warning that the government is failing to protect vulnerable youngsters brought into the country.
The study published today calling for new safeguarding measures says official figures significantly underestimate the "hidden crime" of child trafficking, which sees children as young as five brought secretly into Britain to work as domestic servants, in cannabis factories, or for sexual exploitation or under-age marriage.
According to the report, Rights Here, Rights Now, even if trafficked children are identified "their care and protection is inconsistent, ad hoc and, in some regions, completely absent". To help plug "gaps in the system", Unicef wants reforms including a professional guardian for each trafficked child to protect their interests.Most children identified and put into care, usually living in hostels or bed and breakfast accommodation, simply disappear. They may be lured away again by criminals or the same traffickers who brought them illegally into the country, according to campaigners.

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