Vietnamese child trafficking victims in UK vanish from care — Charities

LONDON: Vietnamese children rescued from traffickers in Britain are vanishing from local authority care, with many feared at risk of re-enslavement by criminals, charities said on Friday.

More than 150 Vietnamese minors have disappeared from care and foster homes since 2015, with almost 90 others going missing temporarily, according to the Times newspaper.

Anti child trafficking organisation ECPAT UK said its own research showed 28 per cent of all trafficked children in care went missing at least once, with Vietnamese children the most likely to abscond.

“It’s a scandal that there are (so many) missing children,” said Chloe Setter, ECPAT UK head of advocacy.

“It’s going on in every part of the country, but it’s a hidden issue,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Vietnam consistently ranks as one of the top three source countries for potential victims of modern slavery in Britain. Data suggests just over half are minors.

Victims commonly end up in labor exploitation, often in cannabis cultivation and nail bars. Some are also sexually exploited.

Experts say rescued Vietnamese children may abscond from care because they do not feel safe or feel isolated, particularly if they do not speak English.

Some may also contact their trafficker after being rescued because they fear reprisals against themselves or their families back home, because they believe they are in debt-bondage or because their trafficker has made false promises.

Many vanish within days of being placed in care, experts said. — Reuters