Mar 14, 2019 – A report carried out by charities in the United Kingdom claims thousands of Vietnamese children are suffering exploitation and abuse as they are smuggled across Europe.
The research, conducted by Anti-Slavery International, ECPAT UK and Pacific Links Foundation, alleges different governments across the EU are ‘passing the buck’ when it comes to protecting the vulnerable youngsters.
It’s simply not acceptable for states to regard trafficked Vietnamese children as another country’s problem.
Official figures show hundreds of children are trafficked from Việt Nam to the UK each year, but experts believe the actual number is significantly higher. In the past 10 years, 3,187 Vietnamese adults and child victims were referred into the National Referral Mechanism.
The study reveals children are often taken from Việt Nam to Russia by plane and then overland through Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and France.
But the report has also revealed a new trend of transit from Việt Nam to Europe via South America.
