Trafficked children in the U.K. are being failed by the system
By Miriam Karmali, Freedom United
Almost a third of child victims of trafficking are reported to have gone missing from the care system in 2017.[1] The fear is that many may have fallen back under the control of their traffickers.
Instead of increasing protections for vulnerable children, the U.K. government is actively impeding vulnerable children from accessing vital support. It passed the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020[2] in April this year, loosening legal safeguards for vulnerable children in 10 key areas – significantly, social workers are no longer required to regularly check in on vulnerable children in care.[3]
As a result of hastily introduced temporary government measures designed to respond to the challenges presented by the coronavirus, the number of trafficked children going missing from care in the midst of a pandemic is unknownand the number of children at risk of being retrafficked is likely to grow.[4]
The COVID-19 lockdown is seriously impacting child survivors of trafficking in the U.K. Having their needs dangerously overlooked, combined with being forced to self-isolate during lockdown, child survivors are now at greater risk of retraumatization and retrafficking.
| As access to services such as social workers, therapeutic counseling, mental health services, schools and community clubs are suddenly cut off or drastically reduced, child survivors are finding themselves without the support crucial to their ongoing recovery that existed before the pandemic.[5] During this period of instability, we are urging the U.K. government to restore vital legal protections and ensure measures to protect child victims of trafficking are immediately implemented. Children are being vocal about their concerns and must not be forced to wait any longer. Add your voice to the campaign and join these children in demanding action from the U.K. |
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The Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, passed without any parliamentary scrutiny, has eroded legal safeguards for already vulnerable children.Social workers are no longer required to visit a child in careevery six weeks, or even check in with a phone call.[6] For many children, with no family or support networks, this curtailment of statutory duties can have a devastating psychological impact and puts them at greater risk of harm.
As a result, increasing numbers of trafficked and unaccompanied children have gone missing from care over the past few months and, with nobody checking up on them, children are being targeted by traffickers.
The Guardian reports:[7]
| “In one case, a teenage victim of human slavery appears to have been “retrafficked” back into the hands of criminals.Another 16-year-old vanished from care in London last month after their support package during lockdown was reduced. Evidence has also emerged that younger children are being targeted by criminals with one 15-year-old in foster care among those approached by “groups of men” and asked to deliver packages in exchange for small sums of money.” |
We’ve been calling on the U.K. since 2014 to establish a statutory system of legal guardianship to provide vulnerable children with an independent professional to fight for their rights and act in their best interests.[8] An independent guardian offers children a lifeline for emotional, psychological, and practical support, helping them recover and keeping them safe from re-entering a cycle of exploitation.
But instead of sticking by their commitment to roll out this scheme nationally, the U.K. government is relaxing safeguarding measures for vulnerable children – in the middle of a global crisis, this is incomprehensible.
Call on the U.K. to meet its obligation to provide all child victims of trafficking with an independent guardian.
The Chief Executive of our partner organization, ECPAT UK, Patricia Durr said:[9]
“The young people we’ve identified have only come to light because charities like ours are plugging gaps in support and contact and could be just the tip of the iceberg.
This has taken place against a backdrop of government underfunding of local authority children’s services, lack of mandatory training on child trafficking for professionals and changes to children’s social care regulations during the pandemic.”
This week we joined a coalition of organizations calling on the U.K. Child Commissioner to urgently investigate why the needs of child victims of trafficking are being dangerously overlooked during COVID-19.[10]
Together, we can loudly demand answers from the government as conditions for vulnerable children in the U.K. worsen during COVID-19 and let them know that we haven’t forgotten about its promise to ensure all child victims of trafficking have access to an independent guardian in the U.K.
Join the campaign todayand call on the U.K. to protect vulnerable children from trafficking during COVID-19 and beyond.
In solidarity,
Miriam and the Freedom United team
[1] https://www.ecpat.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=27ebad70-3305-4e41-a5ca-7a1f24cba698
[2] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/445/contents/made
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/28/children-in-care-at-risk-since-coronavirus-crisis-say-campaigners
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/06/alarming-rise-in-cases-of-missing-children-following-safeguarding-cuts
[5] https://cdns.freedomunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/10042245/Joint-letter-to-Childrens-Commissioner-3.6.20-Final.pdf
[6] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/28/children-in-care-at-risk-since-coronavirus-crisis-say-campaigners
[7] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/06/alarming-rise-in-cases-of-missing-children-following-safeguarding-cuts
[8] https://www.freedomunited.org/our-impact/child-trafficking-law-united-kingdom/
[9] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/06/alarming-rise-in-cases-of-missing-children-following-safeguarding-cuts
[10] https://cdns.freedomunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/10042245/Joint-letter-to-Childrens-Commissioner-3.6.20-Final.pdf
