Hundreds of children as young as six years old are being trafficked into Britain to work in sweat shops and cannabis factories, leading charities claim. Gangs of organised criminals are transporting children from Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe to work in appalling conditions as slaves in Britain.
The parents of the children 'sell' their children to the traffickers, sometimes for sums up to £3000, believing that they are going to a better life. They are brought in on fake passports and put to work immediately.
A coalition of nine major charities including Unicef, Save the Children and the NSPCC have submitted a consultation report to the Home Office which argues that more needs to be done in tackling the "cruel and shocking exploitation of children", the Sunday Telegraph reported.
The coalition – dubbed 'End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking' (ECPAT) – claims that children are often subjected to "an unsympathetic and punitive asylum process" which treats them as illegal immigrants rather than victims. At present, child victims are often deported, which can lead to further trafficking or persecution. The charities want the introduction of new measures to support and protect these children.
ECPAT found that children of different ethnic origins end up in different occupations. Children from China and Vietnam are often found working in restaurants, sweatshops or cannabis factories. African children are likely to work as domestic slaves, while Eastern Europeans are often employed as petty thieves by individuals described as "21st-century Fagins – only much crueller".
The evidence collected by the charities and police clearly support this view. While most children arrive as for labour rather than prostitution, they are often sexually exploited in informal locations, "where they are expected to have sex with groups of men."
The crisis is said to be bordering on epidemic proportions, with all but one of 33 boroughs in London having suspected child victims. ECPAT and police are also investigating evidence in Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool.
Far from deporting the children from the UK the charities are pushing for the Government to ratify the European Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings, which would enable the vulnerable child victims to stay in the country and recover from their ordeal.
The Home Office has acknowledged the consultation paper and is expected to produce a detailed strategic response within the year.
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