Susanna Reid was horrified after an expert revealed there will be many more kids who faced the same fate as Sir Mo Farah.
The Olympic star has revealed he was born Hussein Abdi Kahin in Somaliland and also confirmed he is an illegal immigrant, smuggled into the UK by traffickers when he was nine, with the topic being discussed on Good Morning Britain today.
The astonishing details of Mo's childhood has been revealed in a BBC documentary, and whilst he was concerned he has put his British citizenship in jeopardy, the Home Office has confirmed it won't take any action regarding Mo.
Susanna and her co-host Ed Balls chatted with Patricia Durr, Chief Executive of ECPAT UK, about Mo's revelation, and the presenters were horrified to find out that many other children had faced - and likely will face - the same fate as Mo has.
Asked how common this story is, Patricia said: "Child trafficking is child abuse. We need to keep that in mind. And it's a crime. The scale of the problem is increasing but we don't know how big it is, due to the way the data is collected.
"The number of children being referred there as suspected victims of trafficking has increased year on year. The latest figures for 2021 we have is 5468, so Sir Mo's story is only the tip of the iceberg because he's only just realised himself, which is a very common thing."
Meanwhile, Mo opened up about his past, and why he feels it's now the right time to speak out.
He explained: "Despite what I’ve said in the past, my parents never lived in the UK. When I was four, my dad was killed in the civil war. As a family we were torn apart. I feel like I’ve always had that private thing where I could never be me and tell what’s really happened."
Mo says the woman who brought him in, in 1993, pretended to be his mum and it was on his arrival that he realised he had taken someone's place as the man at the airport wondered where his son was.
"He was her husband and their family name was Farah. He was waiting for [her] and his oldest son Mohamed," he said, revealing that the woman destroyed the contact details Mo had for his only UK relative, adding: "At that moment I knew I was in trouble."
He also shared how he had to serve the other kids to earn his meals.
Mo said: "If I wanted food in my mouth my job was to look after those kids, shower them, cook for them, clean for them, and she said, ‘If you ever wanna see your family again, don’t say anything'. Often I would just lock myself in the bathroom and cry."
