Does the Home Office increase the risk of human trafficking by allowing lengthy delays to occur in its administration of asylum and trafficking decisions for unaccompanied and separated children?
New research by Christine Beddoe examines the experiences and views of young Albanian asylum-seeking children in the UK as well as key professionals who work with them. It finds that the result of increasing Home Office delays is that highly vulnerable children and young adults are facing greater risk of exploitation and trafficking within the UK, specifically to labour exploitation and criminal exploitation. The system is in effect pushing children into the arms of traffickers. And, as a consequence, the UK government is failing in its legal obligations to protect the victims and potential victims of trafficking.
Download the research here: https://miclu.org/into-the-arms-of-traffickers.