Children and Young People 

It is suspected that the UK is a destination country for the exploitation of trafficked children and young people – particularly in domestic service, but also in the sex industry. It has also been claimed that the UK is a transit country for trafficking of children who are destined for Italy, Canada, the U.S. and Ireland.[1] 

Children enter the United Kingdom through various means. Some enter as unaccompanied asylum seekers at airports, and sea ports (ferries and road transport). Additionally, it has been suggested that some enter on student visas, as language students, or on tourist visas.[2] Children are also brought in by adults who state that they are their dependants, or are met at the airport by an adult who declares themselves to be a relative. It has been suggested that children have been brought in via Internet transactions, foster arrangements, and contracts as domestic staff.  

There are several additional mechanisms used in the trafficking of children and young people, including the abuse of asylum processes . The children are told to ask for asylum on arrival in the country. They are placed in care and at a later date are removed or abducted by their traffickers; often the children make contact with the traffickers as they have been instructed. Similarly there are many problems determining the age of some victims. Often they will have been told to lie about their age by their traffickers (claiming to be either older or younger than they are, sometimes for reasons unrelated to the trafficking).