Million plus children trafficked around the globe, UNICEF reports.LONDON, UK -- More than 1.2 million children are victims of child trafficking each year around the world in an industry that generates more than $9 billion annually says UNICEF UNICEF (y  `nĭsĕf'), the United Nations Children's Fund, an affiliated agency of the United Nations. in a recently released report. UNICEF's report, End Child Exploitation: Stop The Traffic, notes that Europe is the biggest market for child trafficking where children are often brought to the continent to work as domestic or sexual slaves. West Africa West Africa A region of western Africa between the Sahara Desert and the Gulf of Guinea. It was largely controlled by colonial powers until the 20th century. West African adj. & n. and Eastern Europe Eastern Europe The countries of eastern Europe, especially those that were allied with the USSR in the Warsaw Pact, which was established in 1955 and dissolved in 1991. are the largest suppliers of the children with some regions in Asia also participating in trafficking of children. For instance, Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, region of Asia (1990 est. pop. 442,500,000), c.1,740,000 sq mi (4,506,600 sq km), bounded roughly by the Indian subcontinent on the west, China on the north, and the Pacific Ocean on the east. accounts for one-third of the domestic and international child trafficking. Each year in Europe 500,000 women and girls are traded, particularly from the former Soviet states where the price for each woman begins as low as $48. The report notes that thousands of boys as young as five years of age are traded around the world, especially from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan to United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates, federation of sheikhdoms (2005 est. pop. 2,563,000), c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. to work as camel jockeys. UNICEF in its report made special note of Britain where there is currently no law against child trafficking making the country particularly attractive to child smugglers. "There may well be hundreds, if not thousands, of children in Britain who have been brought here for exploitation," the report says. The Government's Sexual Offences Bill, currently in the House of Commons House of Commons: see Parliament. , makes it illegal to traffic people into the UK for commercial sexual exploitation, but children trafficked for other reasons remain unprotected. David Bull, the UK head of UNICEF, urges the Government to close this loophole and make it illegal to traffic a child for any purpose, and introduce central funding for specialist care including training for immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. officers and social workers, counselling and safe houses. The UK branch of UNICEF proposes a period of reflection of up to six months, with children given leave to remain in the UK. This would allow children to receive counselling and be protected from re-trafficking, and would help the police to gather crucial evidence to prosecute traffickers. Link to the full report go to communityaction.ca |
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