The trafficking of children into Britain for sexual exploitation or forced labour is likely to become the biggest child protection issue since the internet boosted the activities of paedophiles, a conference of social workers was told this week.
The message came from Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Spindler, head of the child protection command at Scotland Yard, who was introducing preliminary results of a three-month operation to monitor the destinations of unaccompanied children arriving at Heathrow Airport.
Operation Paladin, a partnership with social workers, the immigration service and the NSPCC, will lead to a report to ministers later this month, which is likely to recommend new procedures for registering and following up children who arrive alone from abroad.
