Thousands of African, Asian and Eastern European children are legally brought to Britain each year to work as domestic servants, drug mules, cheap labour and restaurant workers or as beggars or pickpockets.

Unicef is urging the government to criminalise all kinds of trafficking, not just commercial sexual exploitation, and provide safe houses and counselling for victims and training for immigration and social workers.

How can child trafficking be ended? Should the government do more to prevent this exploitation?

The following comments reflect the balance of views we have received:

This debate is now closed. Read your comments below.

Your reaction:

In my opinion, the main way to combat child trafficking is by finding solution to poverty. Poverty is the big issue in some continents, particularly in Africa. We can create activities which can help children's fathers to earn money. If they earn money, I'm sure they will take care to their children.
Cheick Oumar SAGARA, Mali

All nations must make ending human trafficking a priority Paula, USA

Helping to spur development in the Third World is a fine idea for many reasons, but there will always be unscrupulous people who take advantage of the weak. All nations must make ending human trafficking a priority of the highest order and share information in the same way we do regarding terror networks. Isn't this a form of terrorism?
Paula, USA

The children of the world are the future of tomorrow. Should more be done to protect them? Definitely. Selling a child into slavery is the same as taking away their life and should be treated accordingly.
Josh Rigney, USA

Victims of child trafficking are mostly of poor families and from the developing nations. But think of it, how many victims are from the families of ministers, company directors and top politicians alike? If the answer is negative, then the main problem is poverty. Emphasis should be on the distribution of wealth in developing countries.
Obi, Benin

This is not only a scandal, but it is a downright affront to civilisation. But it isn't only in this country that things need to change. It has to be a global initiative. Working amongst refugees in West Africa, you see the beginnings of this plainly. Parents willingly sending their kids off to a "better life". Here, in the UK, we can only deal with what happens here directly. I would suggest there is no need to change the law, or to pass a new one as children are all our responsibilities. Harm to one is harm to all, and an insult to our humanity.
Jennifer Hynes, UK

Those who traffic children should receive the same penalties as a rapist or murderer. It's inconceivable that most countries do not have laws that cover this, all Western nations should pass laws to make this a very serious crime... it must stop!
Victor, New York City, USA

The families in these countries can't afford to support their children Sonnie, Liberian in exile

These countries are undeveloped and the families in these countries can't afford to support their children. Let's start to help the underdeveloped countries in developing their capacities in that they will be able to earn and support their families, and there will be no need to traffic children because they won't be a burden...
Sonnie, Liberian in exile

This government is "soft on crime, soft on the causes of crime" so we have no border or visa controls and no meaningful jail sentences for traffickers... if we did this trade would stop.
John R Smith, UK

It is incredible that there is no law to cover this trade. Parliament should be recalled immediately to pass an emergency bill to outlaw this.
David, UK

There should be a legal requirement for somebody who is not the parent to report to the police or social services any minor under the age of 16 who is staying in his/her house. Then checkups should be made; after all there are thousands of cases of people going to visit grannies, or an uncle or elder brother, and you don't want legislation to make their life hell. Criminalizing "trafficking" is merely confusing the issue. The laws against under-age workers, drug mules and pickpockets and beggars are already in place.
Stephen Jones, Sri Lanka

Our laws and the whole legal system need a massive rethink. When these loopholes are found they should immediately be plugged. Immigrant children over here without parents should be taken straight into care and the parents traced.
Carol, UK

The only way to stop this is for the public to report it when they see it happening Joan, Scotland

The only way to stop this is for the "public" to report it when they recognise it is happening. Then the Social Services should take the child/children into care and those abusing the children should be arrested and locked up or deported back to where they came from.
Joan, Scotland

The British Empire did a really good job of stopping slavery. We even sunk American ships trafficking slaves. However the empire is now gone and this ugly trade is now rearing its head once again.
James Clarke, UK

Isn't it a new form of slavery? The only way to stop it is to educate the people to start respecting the feelings of other, especially poor, nations. Traffickers will get whatever needed by law to make their trade legal. Child labour is wrong and the people who are engaged in it along with all who are benefiting from it should be punished.
Umar, USA

The only solution is to raise the economies of the Third World countries in order to stop this despicable activity. Stop using them as the engine room to the western world - Pay more for your goods! Consumers are to blame. It is the economy that drives (some mostly twisted) desperate people to these ends. But where would the profit be? Would you pay more? The guilt is yours.
Mark, UK

Supporting programs aimed at avoiding the need for families becoming overwhelmed with lack of nutrition, medicine, contraception, water and sanitation would be the only long term solution.
Jessica, Australia

I think the real solution lies with the consumer. If people in the UK who purchase these child workers are severely punished and publicly labelled as child abusers, which they are, then I think that will dry up the demand for these types of illegal child trafficking. A national database with pictures of the offenders who have been convicted of child trafficking is in order.
Fiona, UK

I'm a little puzzled by your intro statement that "Thousands of African, Asian and Eastern European children are legally brought to Britain each year to work" Legally, how so? I understood the immigration rules are quite specific on family reunion. Surely the situation is that these children are being brought in illegally, as in the tragic case of Victoria Climbie. The real answer must be to enforce the existing immigration rules properly. It would not hurt either if everyone had to produce irrefutable proof of resident status and family status before registering at school or claiming child allowance.
Philip, USA

You could require a letter of permission from parents for any child travelling Jane, UK living in US

Some countries - notably, I believe, Canada - require that children travelling with one parent must have a letter of permission from the other before being allowed to enter the country. I suppose you could require a letter of permission from parents for any child travelling with any person who is not a parent, but children in these situations seem to be from poor families who are easily swayed by arguments that their child "will have a better life and education" than the parents could possibly give them if they remain at home. Remember Victoria Climbie was in the UK with a great-aunt that her parents trusted implicitly when she promised great things for their daughter in Western Europe. Also such parents are more likely to be intimidated or tempted by money.

As far as I can see the only way to stop the practice would be exhaustive interviews with both parents of any child where a visa has been requested for that child to enter the UK. And that is unfeasible - you cannot guarantee that the adults interviewed are indeed the parents, if they are the parents there is no way to ascertain that they are uninvolved in a smuggling ring - and most of all it would be time consuming and expensive and not likely to appeal to overworked embassy/consular staff.
Jane, UK living in US

Firstly, those that refer exclusively to African children should also take note of the fact that European and indeed British children are also abused in this trade. Secondly, many of the disgusting people that sexually abuse these children here and abroad (particularly Asia) are Westerners. Americans and British, men to be precise. Finally, those that blame immigration policies should remember that so-called immigrants keep our hospitals and schools running. What would you do without 'foreigners' to keep these public services running?
EJ, London

I would suggest that the trade in children entering this country illegally would be significantly reduced, it not eliminated if those at ports of entry did their jobs properly and were backed up by the powers-that be. No minor should be allowed to enter the country without fully accounting for themselves with full documentation. Any airline, shipping company, or Eurotunnel would be legally required to return the minor to his/her home at their own expense. Many immigration "problems" would be reduced if existing legislation were enforced properly.
W D Toulman, United Kingdom

There is not a lot we can do about it really apart from getting tough and not allow so many folk into the UK. I don't see the UN doing much about it. Are they waiting for the USA/UK to do it for them again?
Brendan Hynes, Scotland, UK

Exaggerated political correctness means that the police can't do their job properly and we play into the hands of ruthless criminal gangs.
Anthony, Germany (UK)

The only solution is to increase public awareness, and to encourage individual initiative Andreas Oikonomou, Athens, Greece

We have the same problem in Greece, and that's partly because both our countries have long coastlines. It is very easy for a human trafficker to sail into a remote bay and unload the "cargo". No matter how many coastguards we employ, the problem remains. I think the only solution is to increase public awareness, and to encourage individual initiative in reporting such cases.
Andreas Oikonomou, Athens, Greece

I think African leaders are asleep. They should be actively involved in the process of putting a stop to this menace. In fact I suggest a conference of African leaders on the issue with the UK crime fighting agencies involved. We are in the 21st century for goodness sake. Instead of trying to combat diseases, improve access to water and deal with poor education we are forced to combat colonial instincts. What a shame.
Reggie Bassey, Nigeria

Travellers have to become more aware of the risks they pose to other counties and vice versa Tony, Welling, Kent

How do you stop this? I think travellers have to become more aware of the risks they pose to other counties and vice versa. I think that passengers should accept a slower process at border controls; passengers should realise that they have duties to comply with as opposed to treating the control authorities as a hindrance. We also should have more immigration and customs officers. When this is achieved, we have a chance.
Tony, Welling, Kent

The first step ought to be to close this legal loophole that has been identified. Once that is done, the authorities would have the powers they need to begin tackling the problem. After that, the priority ought to be to crack down really hard, with very stiff sentences, on people who perpetrate any kind of abuse of children. There is no worse crime than to steal the chance of a proper childhood from a child.
David Hazel, UK

As adults, we have a responsibility to all children. Judy W, NC, USA

I believe the first thing must be to close the legal loophole. I also believe that if a child is brought into the country, he/she should be visited by (or be compelled to visit) a social worker who could conduct a brief interview without the presence of the adult to ensure that the child is safe. Fine the adult heavily if appointments are missed. As adults, we have a responsibility to all children. One child slipping through the cracks is one child too many.
Judy W, NC, USA

Police the borders properly. This would cut down the trafficking, smuggling of weapons and contraband, terrorism and asylum seekers. This would save so much more than it would cost.
Duncan, UK

You have a parliament in Great Britain don't you? Use it to pass the necessary law(s)!
Robert Graham, Canada

The only answer is to get tough on people entering the country John Sturrock, Scotland

60% of the cost of running a company is wages. As a result, free labour from children and young teens who do not speak English and do not know their rights or the laws are very appealing to immoral businesses. The only answer is to get tough on people entering the country.
John Sturrock, Scotland

How can we stop child trafficking? Simple answer; proper immigration controls and an end to the insane open door asylum policies of this government.
Matt Davis, UK

In a society that's almost paranoid about our own children's safety from paedophiles, it's a sick joke that we chose to ignore the horrors that befall some children who simply look for a better existence in our country.
Shanti, London, England

As a Nigerian national who lives in the UK, I must say that I am appalled at the level of this crime that occurs, and the apparent ignorance of most of the developed world about it - till now. When I was in secondary school, there were numerous tales of unfortunate children who were taken to European countries and used for prostitution and slave labour. A concerted effort was made to raise awareness about this issue. But as long as the grinding poverty and hopelessness of very poor families continues, people will feel that they have no choice but to send their children into underage labour, in the hope that they do not fall into the wrong hands.
TJ, UK

As long as visas are easy to obtain in these countries the trafficking will continue Musu Stewart, USA/Liberia

Embassies of European countries and the UK should make it difficult for children originating from countries that are considered to be engaged in trafficking, to obtain visas. Persons applying to take children to Europe or the UK should have to go through difficult and thorough screening and interviews that would most likely frustrate them. As long as visas are easy to obtain in these countries the trafficking will continue.
Musu Stewart, USA/Liberia

It is easy to solve the problem in the UK. Strengthen the laws then go out and enforce them. Unfortunately, the larger issue doesn't have a clear solution. The traffickers will move on to another rich country with lax laws.
Jim, USA

Due to high poverty and illiteracy rates in Africa and other Third World countries, it will be very difficult to stop/fight child trafficking. Most parents in some of these countries have so many children without adequate resources to raise them, so some of these con business people take advantage by convincing/promising a better life for these children abroad.
Chukwudi Ajoku, North Carolina, USA.

Impose tougher sentences on those who use children MS, London

Close the loophole and change the judicial system to give life to those caught and convicted of the crime. Impose tougher sentences on those who use children, as is often the case without demand there would be no supply.
MS, London

Child trafficking, child slavery and child-sex exploitation are just manifestations of bigger African children's problems. A continent rocked by poverty, civil wars, tribal conflicts, underdevelopment and refugee immigration has created dire situations where children and underaged teenagers are recruited to fight like adult soldiers, easily indoctrinated to become instruments of religious fundamentalist terrorism when they grew up, as opposed to being in school and learning useful trades for paying, beneficial occupations.
Igonikon Jack, USA

The tragedy is that in strictly material terms children who are lucky enough to be imported as a commodity sometimes are much better off than they would have been in their original situation. The tragedy is worsened when children are used for criminal purposes. Due to the fact that children, in their formative years, are often irreparably psychologically damaged, when trained for lives of crime, levying an immense economic and social cost subsequently, it might be that adults who are involved in using children in that manner ought to be penalized in the same manner as murderers, with life imprisonment or the death sentence.
Robert Morpheal, Canada

Maybe if we stopped messing with the countries they are coming from and implement fair trade, there would be no need for such exploitation. Ironic that we are exploiting them, isn't it?
Lizzie, Scotland

To curb the demand we must realise that a shirt costs more than �1 Mary, UK

If there were severe penalties on the 'end-users' as well as those trafficking this would curb the demand. If there were no demand, there would be no trafficking. To curb the demand we must realise that a shirt costs more than �1 to make if it's not being made by slave labour.
Mary, UK

One major problem that has not been addressed is tradition. Some of the source countries still have a tradition of slavery. Until these source countries address this issue, there is only a limited amount that we (the free world) can do.
Jason, USA

I am an international student from Nigeria studying business in the UK. I have noticed for quite a long time from all UK media they don't give a good picture of Africa. Whenever news is about Nigeria or any other African country, the poor parts of the country are always shown, where children are suffering and there are no good resources. This gives people who have never been the Africa the idea that we live in 'trees' and that there are no modern cities. Africa might not be the best continent in the world, but that doesn't mean we're not living the modern age.
Esther Ogundiya, Britain

It would appear that these children are being employed and used by people of their own nationalities. Perhaps this is a wider part of the immigration debate. It's all very well embracing other cultures, but our laws forbid the exploitation of children already. We stop this, then, by using existing legislation.
sue, UK

Yes, we can stop child trafficking - but only as part of a wider campaign to stop all illegal immigration. As long as people can enter and stay in Britain illegally, child trafficking and child slavery will be impossible to stamp out. The government needs to act decisively and fast, as the British people wish it to, to bring all forms of immigration under tight control.
Harry Edge, UK

I don't believe we should try to stop children coming to this country. They are the future energy and growth of our economy. What we must do is ensure they are properly educated and cared for here and not forced to work in ways that our native children are not allowed to. If we stop people coming to this country in search of work, better education, healthcare and a better life we are in fact often condemning them to sustained poverty and suffering in their land.

What we must do is to ensure that children as well as adults who come to this country are properly educated and cared for so they may in turn make their contribution to our society (by working and paying taxes) and then be able to return home to improve things in their own country.
Chris, UK

These children are living next door to someone Lynn, UK

These children are living next door to someone, being exploited- if you are worried about a child or young person , or have seen movement of children in your area -pick up the phone and call social services or the police- better to be wrong than sorry.
Lynn, UK

Only education on long term will solve the problem but on short term immigration officials should screen thoroughly incoming children and the people committing or participating in such crimes should be, as a rule, put behind bars for life if caught.
Miklos Nomad, Hungary

One way to prevent this kind of thing from happening would be to name and shame the offenders and send them to prison for a very, very long time.
Rich, UK

To really tackle this, we must make children exempt from asylum/immigration restrictions. They should have an automatic right to stay in the UK on humanitarian grounds. There's no point offering safe houses and counselling if we then deport them!
Ben Drake, York, UK

Deport the traffickers (including UK citizens) without the right of appeal. Educate the children to become better citizens than the traffickers were.
Iain, UK

This is a child welfare issue not an immigration issue Bob, UK

Interesting that we get so worked up about child welfare in this country but don't seem to care about the exploitation that takes place in their own country producing goods for us. This is a child welfare/exploitation issue. Not an immigration issue - until this is recognized we will continue playing cops and robbers with the traffickers and the children will still suffer.
Bob, UK

There is an easy answer to this...No child, black white or even green should be allowed entry into this country without a parent. For school exchange trips they must be accompanied by a teacher who must prove and make sure the child is returned to their country of origin.
Barry, UK

Child trafficking is one part of an obscene modern slavery. History suggests that the answer lies with individuals who have the compassionate desire to help those afflicted, and to make a difference by making sufficient 'noise', highlighting the necessary legal changes. The government then needs to throw all its weight of enforcement behind tackling this problem.
Andy, UK

As long as there is demand for cheap labour and greedy people exploiting the children, and above all, poverty in their homeland, it is hard to eradicate this inhuman activity. Even grown up people are treated like slaves in some countries, if they hail from a developing country. Individual governments should enforce the legislations they might introduce, which can alleviate this suffering to some extent!
SrinivasanToft, Denmark

It astounds me that the world's governments haven't sorted out this problem before. In fact they don't even see it as a priority. Instead we have to rely on charities and NGOs. If it wasn't for the recent case reported by the media, the public wouldn't even know the problem existed (which indicates how important the media is when a government is failing.)
David, UK

If there was no call for these children in the countries they are sent to, this would stop. It is all to do with greed.
Veronica E Godfrey, England

Trafficking is feeding a burgeoning squalid market in this country Toby, Cambridge, UK

We must address the lack of core values which allow these practices to flourish. The deplorable trafficking of innocent children into this country is not driven by opportunist Far East, African and Eastern European gangs touting for trade but is feeding a burgeoning squalid market in this country unchecked. We must clean up our own back yard first.
Toby, Cambridge, UK

The trafficking of African children flourishes because it's so easy for criminals to exploit the longstanding tradition of sending children away to live with guardians in the hope they will have better lives (not all that different from the British tradition of sending your children to boarding school). The problem lies in differentiating between those children who are being exploited from those who are not. I'm not sure whether extra legislation would help, but I'm pretty sure that extra training and awareness within the immigration authorities would!
John, England

The authorities should divert some of the resources that are used to fight drug trafficking. Protecting ruthlessly exploited children is surely more important than waging the failed war on drugs.
Jon E, France

Educate them... the first and foremost step is to educate all up to a certain standard which will give them self-awareness as well as knowledge of what is going on around them. Secondly, harsh punishment for anyone found to use this method to benefit themselves. That should bring down the problem by some level. The remaining depends on the individuals and their country.
Sathya, London, UK

If Europe really cared, the EU would create severe penalties Mark, US

If Europe really cared, the EU would create uniformly severe penalties including huge fines, long jail terms and even the death sentence. But Europe can't even stop the soccer hooligans so how will it ever manage anything as serious as this?
Mark, US

Mark, US: What's the answer? Shall we bomb the children? That will stop it. Problem solved!!!!
Ben Hooper, UK

It's astounding that so much money is being spent by the world powers on things such as space technology and weapon development when this problem is still so prominent. This should be stopped straight away, and we ought to bring us in line with what we say is the 21st Century... because at the moment, things like this are more 16th Century.
Edward S, UK

Find ways of identifying the sources and the victims, prevention is better than a cure.
Joanne Murdy, UK

Of course the UK Government should stamp this out; human trafficking is disgusting but this just shows again that exploiting the vulnerable is profitable. More should be done from the end of the countries that these children are being taken from. These nations should take more steps to protect their own citizens and not leave it up to other nations to pick up the pieces.
Niki, UK