Number of child trafficking victims at least double official figures, report warns

The report, which warns that trafficking to the UK is on the rise, reveals that the National Referral Mechanism for trafficking victims dealt with 234 children in 2011.

But according to a so-called “baseline assessment”, calculated using data from a range of sources, the actual number of children trafficked into the UK is estimated to be at least 495 last year.

Of the 234 young trafficking victims who were dealt with by the National Referral Mechanism, 11 per cent were under the age of ten, the majority of which were trafficked for domestic servitude or forced labour. In total 56 per cent were aged 16- to 17-years old. Around half of this group were trafficked for sexual exploitation.

The report explains how both central and local government is attempting to tackle the issue of trafficked children going missing from care and subsequently being re-trafficked by abusers.

But Ilona Pinter, policy adviser at The Children's Society, said more must be done to protect this group, adding that children are often not identified as having been trafficked in the first place.

“A lack of awareness across key services of the signs that a child has been trafficked means many more are not detected - denying them the vital protection they need,” she said. ?

“The dangerous practice of placing unaccompanied children who are potential victims of trafficking in inappropriate and unsupervised accommodation puts them at risk of further abuse and must end.”

Kamena Dorling, policy manager at Coram Children’s Legal Centre’s Migrant Children's Project, said the figures on child trafficking in the UK massively underestimate the issue.

“The government needs to ensure that effective systems and training are in place so that potential child victims of trafficking are consistently identified,” she said.

“It also needs to ensure that all potential victims are properly supported and protected and it must work to reduce the disturbingly high number of trafficked children going missing from local authority care.

“Coram Children’s Legal Centre would like to see concerted efforts made to ensure that victims of trafficking are not criminalised for crimes they are forced to commit and for immigration offences.

“Victims of trafficking should not be subjected to long, drawn out legal battles over their immigration status and harmful disputes when they are disbelieved about how old they are.”