New immigration laws will have a “massively detrimental” impact on exploited children, who will be at greater risk of being unidentified, unprotected and penalised, charities have warned. The Government has been urged not to let an “adult-focused agenda to take priority over children’s rights”, with the Nationality and Borders Bill set to be debated in the Commons tomorrow (Wednesday).
Nine child protection and anti-trafficking groups say a lack of long-term solutions for children who are trafficked is a “major factor” in them going missing and being further exploited. It comes as figures from Every Child Protected Against Trafficking (ECPAT) and the charity Missing People show that trafficked children going missing from local authority care are disappearing on average eight times each a year.
The figures, shared with the PA news agency, show the number of children in care who are suspected of being victims of trafficking or modern slavery rose by 22 per cent, from 960 in 2018 to 1,231 in 2020. The number of these children who went missing from care rose by 25 per cent over the same period, Freedom of Information responses from UK councils show.
