The 13 Vietnamese teens who vanished into thin air
Police issue appeal for youngsters amid slave labour fears
THIRTEEN Vietnamese children have vanished after arriving in Britain in the back of a lorry.
The ten boys and three girls disappeared ‘one by one’ after being put up in accommodation by a local authority.
Aged between 14 and 18, they came to the country illegally between June and September. They were housed in Northampton and Corby but left their accommodation separately in June, July and September.
Police have launched Operation Fresco to try to find them and yesterday issued a set of photographs to media outlets. One of the pictured boys appeared to be crying.
The police search comes amid concerns that Vietnamese child migrants were at risk of falling into the hands of gangmasters after going missing from care. Councils have also raised concerns about the cost of looking after asylum-seeking children.
Kevin Hyland, the independent anti-slavery commissioner, said in a report that councils and police needed to address the ‘pressing’ issues. More than 150 Vietnamese minors have vanished from care and foster homes since 2015. Many went missing within two days.
In most cases, adults and children pay smugglers to bring them to the UK from impoverished parts of Vietnam.
Some are forced into slavery to pay back the costs of their journeys. There is also evidence of children being kidnapped and trafficked.
Mr Hyland’s report highlighted the growing number of exploited Vietnamese workers in nail bars and cannabis farms and living in cramped accommodation. It found that some children went missing for fear of reprisals from the traffickers if they did not get in touch.
One Vietnamese boy said he was approached by a man who told him he would take him to an unspecified foreign country for £24,000.
He was told he could find work and pay back his debt once abroad and ended up in a cannabis factory in Britain. He was later arrested and, because he was a child, taken into care.
But the trafficker found him and again forced him to work at another drugs farm, where he physically and sexually abused.
The NSPCC has said that a fifth of all children referred to its child trafficking advice centre were Vietnamese.
Last month Shropshire Council was left with a £1million bill after ten ‘highly vulnerable’ Vietnamese children aged between 13 and 16 ended up in the county after travelling to the UK from France in the back of a lorry.
Also in November, police in Preston issued an appeal for five missing Vietnamese children. Officers said they were growing increasingly concerned for the welfare of the boys, who they believe entered the country illegally.
Councils have a responsibility to look after for such children and more than 4,200 young asylum seekers were in care last year – a 54 per cent increase on 2015. Town halls receive central government funding for unaccompanied-children of £114 a day but have complained the cash is indequate because of their ‘flight risk’.
Many are also likely to have psychological problems because of horrors witnessed in their home country or on their journey to Britain. The teenagers missing from Northamptonshire are Quang Dang Le, 16; Ha Van Le, 16; Ha Van Nguyen, 16; Tran Tram, 17; Linh Nguyen, 17; Huyen Thanh Thi Nguyen, 16; Trong Nguyen, 16; and Binh Van Hoang, 17.
Also missing is Khoa Anh Yu, 14; Ho Sy Hoang, 16; Lihn Van Nguyen, 15; Tung Anh Le, 18; and Quang Trong Nguyen, 17.
Detective Inspector Andy Rogers of Northamptonshire police said: ‘We are making an appeal in relation to 13 Vietnamese missing children. Officers have completed a huge amount of work trying to locate these children and today we are making this appeal for the public to assist us.
‘What we know is that they came into Corby in the back of a lorry. Northamptonshire police attended and they were put into accommodation across the whole of the county. They disappeared one after the other. They left during different times and we believe that the girls all left together.
‘They are a concern to us, as are all the other boys as well.’
Anyone with information can call police on 101 and or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
‘Falling into the hands of gangmasters’