[Reader-list] Todays Guardian

[sreejata roy]

The teenagers traded for slave labour and sex

Today, a new international study reveals that Britain
has become an easy target for child trafficking gangs.
In a special report, Audrey Gillan exposes the plight of the victims of
this hidden trade in human misery

The woman whose picture was in the passport looked a little bit like
Funmi Adeyemi, but just a little. This made the 15-year-old nervous but
it was fine. When her trafficker brought her to nervous but it was fine.
When her trafficker brought her to Heathrow airport the pair of them
sailed through immigration. It was easy to pass as the man's sister
because no questionswere asked. Easy to become anonymous. Easy to slip
into alife of domestic slavery in modern-day Britain.
Out of Nigeria and on her way to a council house on the Ferrier estate
in south-east London. Out of a life of selling plastic cups  and plates
at the side of the road for no pay and a regular beating to a life as a
"maid" working from 6am to midnight,looking after seven kids and
cleaning a house for no pay and a regular beating.
Funmi is the face of a hidden problem in Britain. Her story is like of
hundreds of other girls trafficked to Britain for either that domestic
servitude or sexual exploitation. A story of children trapped in rooms
with no papers, no identity, where they are nothing but a commodity
traded for slave labour or tawdry sex,and living under the fear of
voodoo.

Funmi is one of the first trafficking victims to brave the threat of
reprisals against herself and her family and speak publicly about the
burgeoning, hidden trade in children coming into the UK.

In the course of a month-long investigation the Guardian has spoken to
other victims and dozens of people working with similarly affected
children and uncovered a problem that is growing steadily in major
cities across the country. Children,mostly from Africa, have recently
been discovered in cities such as Newcastle, Nottingham, Northampton and
Glasgow: almost all of them have definitely been trafficked.

Funmi escaped from the Kidbrooke flat where she worked for three years
in March. The Guardian knows the name of her trafficker but cannot
identify him because a lack of legislation means he cannot be prosecuted
for bringing a child into the country illegally, leaving her on her own
with his children, and enslaving her. Often authorities believe the man,
the "trafficker",
 rather than listen to people like Funmi. She says her trafficker  once
forced her to have sex with him but she will never be able to prove it.

"He told me he would break my hand. I told him no but he wouldn't
listen," Funmi said. "After that.. I went to live with his sister and
she used to beat me. She banged my head on the wall and was beating me
with a belt. One day she just threw me  out of her house. I didn't have
any shoes on and I didn't know  where to go. She came after me and when
I got back to the house the grandma said I should get on my knees and
say sorry
to the brother. During that time I was always crying and thinking about
running away from them.

"One day I went to our neighbour's house and asked her if she had a maid
and she said she didn't have time. I contacted our pastor and I told him
everything and he said there was nothing I could do. He would just pray
for me."

No one seemed to want to listen to what Funmi had to say.When police
were called to the house they believed she was her trafficker's sister.
When he tried to take her back to Nigeria through fear he might get
caught, immigration officers believed  his story not Funmi's. He was
free to go, Funmi was fingerprinted, photographed and held in a
detention centre.

Today sees the launch of a report by Unicef UK which highlights Today
sees the launch of a report by Unicef UK which highlights the changing
face of trafficking in the country. It says: "Children are being brought
to countries and cities all over the UK. In places such as Newcastle and
Nottingham cases have only emerged in recent months, indicating that
traffickers are widening their operations, targeting places where the
authorities are not aware of the issue." the changing face of
trafficking in the country. It says: "Children
are being brought to countries and cities all over the UK. In places
such as Newcastle and Nottingham cases have only emerged in recent
months, indicating that traffickers are widening their operations,
targeting places where the authorities are not aware of the issue."
                                                        The charity says
that whilst the government is attempting to legislate against people
being trafficked for sexual exploitation within the sexual offences bill
currently passing through the House of Commons, children being
trafficked for other reasons, be it private fostering or domestic
labour, remain unprotected.

Unicef's report reveals that recorded figures of children trafficked
here is "the tip of the iceberg". It says: "There may well be hundreds,
if not thousands, of children in Britain who have been brought here for
exploitation. We won't know the true extent of the problem until the
necessary mechanisms are in place."

Unicef says it is not just an international problem but is "here in our
own backyard". The report points out that the face of trafficking in
Britain has changed over the past five years and "the biggest noticeable
difference is the wide range of African nationalities being trafficked".
It says "traffickers are widening their operations and trying new
places".

Britain is emerging as a key staging post for girls being trafficked to
other European states, such as Italy, where laws against the illicit
trade are more stringent.

Authorities first became aware that west African girls were being
trafficked to Italy via Britain when they started disappearing after
being taken into the care of West Sussex social services following
discovery upon arrival at Gatwick airport. A police investigation -
Operation Newbridge - was launched and a pattern of trafficking
detected. Such is their fear of the trafficker that, since 1995, 74
girls have "disappeared" from the care of social services and returned
to the men who sneaked them into the country.

The Guardian has found that over 18 months between 1998 and The Guardian
has found that over 18 months between 1998 and The Guardian has found
that over 18 months between 1998 and 1999 180 suspected trafficking
victims went missing after arrival at Heathrow airport.
1999 180 suspected trafficking victims went missing after arrival at
Heathrow airport.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1008605,00.html