Children from a growing number of countries are being imported into Britain against their will as cheap labour, often ending up in prostitution, according to a new report published by Unicef, the United Nation’s children’s organisation, on Wednesday.
The Paris-based organisation said thousands of children were trafficked each year, mainly from West Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia.
The report, Stop The Traffic!, has been released as part of Unicef UK’s End Child Exploitation campaign, which is urging Britain to introduce a law to prohibit any form of child trafficking.
A Bill before Parliament makes it illegal to traffic people into Britain for sexual exploitation, but children imported for other forms of work remain unprotected.
David Bull, executive director of Unicef UK, said: ”Trafficking is a serious abuse of child rights and is seen as less risky than trafficking drugs. The government must criminalise trafficking for all purposes and should introduce central funding for specialist care and protection for the victims.”
Home Office Minister Caroline Flint said many children were brought into Britain legally and then exploited, making it difficult to ascertain the numbers being trafficked each year.
”There is already a law against trafficking for prostitution and of course there are laws against illegal immigration into this country which affects children as well,” she said.
Bull said hundreds of children were being trafficked through Britain each year. – Sapa-DPA