ECPAT UK welcomes the Government’s decision to ask the Children’s Commissioner for England to conduct a review of how child victims of trafficking are looked after when they are rescued in the UK.

Director of ECPAT UK, Christine Beddoe, said: “The call for a system of guardianship for child victims of trafficking has been an integral part of ECPAT UK’s campaigning for more than four years.

“ECPAT UK looks forward to working with the Children’s Commissioner to ensure that there is an independent, thorough review of the care and support provided to child victims of trafficking, one that the Government ensures is adequately resourced. Our goal remains to ensure that child victims of trafficking are provided with all the support that they need and deserve to recover from the trauma of their experiences, and to help rebuild their lives.

“It is pleasing to see that the Government has requested that the Department for Education calls for the review as opposed to the Home Office. For too long child trafficking has been seen as an immigration issue, rather than one of child protection.  We hope that this development represents a willingness by the Government to put children’s rights at the heart of its work to support child victims of trafficking."

Background:
The Home Office Minister Lord Henley announced the change in the Government’s position in response to a proposed amendment by the Conservative peer Lord McColl, following sustained pressure from ECPAT UK and other children’s charities.

Last week, the Immigration Minister Damian Green told the House of Commons that existing powers were sufficient to protect child victims of trafficking.

However, Lord McColl proposed an amendment to the government’s argument, calling instead for ‘legal advocates’ to be appointed in order to reduce the number of child victims of trafficking going missing from local authority care (301 of 942 children in 2007-10).

As a result, the amendment was withdrawn and Lord Henley said: "I am content to ask colleagues in the Department of Education to invite the Children's Commissioner to review the current practical arrangements for rescued child victims of trafficking and to provide advice to that department and us in the Home Office. We will be in a position to come back to these matters at a later stage."

Maggie Atkinson, Children’s Commissioner for England, said “The Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) noted with interest the House of Lords debate on the care of rescued trafficked children. Home Office Minister Lord Henley suggested the Department for Education may ask OCC to review this care.

 “A request to review care has not yet been made. However, if this was received we would give it due consideration, and as a small organisation would seek assurances regarding the independence of our work and the resources that would enable us to undertake this work.

“We have always been keen to promote and protect the interests of all children in England. Our reports on children seeking asylum such as Landing in Dover have made recommendations and led to meaningful changes in policy by various agencies.”

In October last year, ECPAT UK published Watch over me, a report that outlines the Government’s moral and legal obligations to provide a system of guardianship for child victims of trafficking. ECPAT UK believes these children require the support of an independent and dedicated guardian to represent their best interests and ensure that they receive the education, medical, practical and legal support they need to help rebuild their lives.

Also in October, ECPAT UK sent a letter to Tim Loughton MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, urging the Government to rethink its position on guardianship in light of the Watch over me report. This letter was signed by 25 organisations including Dr Maggie Atkinson, the Children’s Commissioner for England, Tom Baillie, the Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People, and Keith Towler, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, as well as UNICEF UK, Barnardo’s, the NSPCC, World Vision and Amnesty International UK.

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 PRESS CONTACT
Christine Beddoe, Director, ECPAT UK
Tel: 0207 233 9887

Information for editors:
-     ECPAT UK is a leading UK children’s rights organisation that exists to end the commercial exploitation of children. We focus on protecting children from both trafficking and exploitation in tourism. This is done by campaigning, providing training, and working with other NGOs and professionals from around the world. We also work directly with child victims of both sexual and labour exploitation by helping them recover and giving them a voice to speak out