Image via Wikipedia21 Mar 2011
Human traffickers are using Eurostar to smuggle vulnerable children into Britain for use in domestic slavery and benefit fraud, it is claimed today.
Anti-child slavery campaigners say child traffickers are increasingly using the route into London because there are no specialist police patrols at St Pancras station.
Lib-Dem baroness and London Assembly member Dee Doocey said the success of the Operation Paladin police unit at Heathrow was forcing traffickers to switch routes. She added: "The crazy situation about Eurostar is that children under 12 can travel unaccompanied from Brussels and Paris if they have a letter from their parents or guardian but there are no checks on this at all.
"At Heathrow there is a highly trained team … at St Pancras there is no one."
Her comments came after Lucy Adeniji, 44, a church pastor who tortured two children she trafficked into the UK from Nigeria to use as slaves, was jailed for 11½ years. At Isleworth crown court, Judge Simon Oliver, called the mother of five an "evil woman" and an "utter hypocrite".
Christine Beddoe, director of anti-child slavery charity ECPAT UK, today called for the St Pancras "loophole" to be closed.
Paladin figures show that, in one three- month period, 1,800 unaccompanied children arrived at Heathrow, a third of whom were judged to be vulnerable.
A spokesman for Eurostar said: "This is an issue for the UK Border authority. If a minor presents us with the appropriate travel documents we cannot refuse them the right to travel but there are appropriate checks in place.
Source: London Evening Standard
Child traffickers exploit Eurostar loophole
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