Separated children and child trafficking in Northern Ireland
- Document number
- 2835
- Date
- 2011
- Title
- Separated children and child trafficking in Northern Ireland
- Author/publisher
- Barnardo
- Availability
- View/save PDF version of this document
- Document type(s)
- Research/Study/Analysis,
- Keywords
- Corporate social responsibility, Multi-stakeholder partnerships: Missing children, Internal trafficking, Forced labour, Identification, Domestic servitude, Sexual exploitation, Private fostering, Forced marriage, Best Interests Principle, Child Victims of Trafficking, Separated Migrant Children, Unaccompanied minors, Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Child protection systems, Child Trafficking, Child Prostitution, Child Pornography,
- Summary
- Separated children belong to different groups, for example, asylum seekers, victims of human trafficking, and minors illegally entering the EU. They may have been sent to the UK by their parents to escape deprivation and extreme poverty; or to seek safety from persecution, gender-based discrimination and natural disasters. Many have been separated from their families as a result of genocide or armed conflict and some may have been trafficked for sexual, labour or other exploitation (Separated Children in Europe Programme (SCEP) and Save the Children, 2007). Several UK-wide police operations have led to a number of arrests for human trafficking in recent years. Research suggests women and children are being trafficked into Northern Ireland (NI) (Martynowicz et al, 2009; Geraghty et al, 2010) and there is evidence that human traffickers are using Belfast International Airport as a port of entry to the UK (DHSSPS/PSNI, 2011). Some media reports state NI has been identified as a key gateway for criminal gangs involved in people trafficking to the Republic of Ireland. Concerns about increased numbers of separated children and child trafficking in NI have also been expressed by various agencies working with asylum seekers and children.
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