Dozens of Vietnamese children missing after being rescued from human trafficking in the UK

Dozens of Vietnamese children rescued from human trafficking rings, but later missing, may have returned to gangs in the UK.

Twelve children disappeared from Rochdale social care council after being there for two days. Illustration photo: Shutterstock.

152 Vietnamese children and teenagers have gone missing from care homes since 2015, and 88 have disappeared temporarily. This summer alone, 12 children disappeared in the town of Rochdale, the Times reported today (October 13).

After obtaining data under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, the paper identified 8,670 children who were reported missing at least once while in care last year. Most disappearances lasted between a few hours and two days.

Experts say some children "panic" after being detained by British authorities and run away, returning to the hands of traffickers.

Baroness Eilzabeth Butler-Sloss, chair of the parliamentary group on human trafficking and modern slavery, said the figures were “very concerning”. She said the Home Office needed to make “special arrangements” for children who were particularly at risk.

Helen Johnson, head of children at the Refugee Council, said most children illegally brought into the UK are in debt bondage, something some local authorities are unaware of. “If children are treated with hostility, they will believe what their traffickers tell them, that they will not get help or that they are in debt,” she said.

The Home Office said it was strengthening rules for children's homes, requiring local authorities to report all disappearances, even if they last less than 24 hours.

In August, the National Crime Agency said there were more than 300 police operations tackling modern slavery in the UK, including incidents affecting “every major town and city in the country”.

According to VNE