Home Department written question – answered at on 10 May 2006.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 2 May 2006, Official Report, column 1406W, on child trafficking, if he will take steps to establish a system which will collect information about children who have been trafficked or smuggled from (a) EU countries and (b) the rest of the world.
Information on the steps being taken to establish a system to collect information about children who have been trafficked or smuggled to the UK has been provided in answer to the hon. Gentleman's related PQ 68551. The Home Office is working in collaboration with both the EU and G8 countries to combat trafficking and the following outlines current actions:
(a) EU countries
The EU action plan on combating and preventing trafficking in human beings, which was agreed during the UK presidency, contains a number of specific actions focusing on children, including:
"holding a seminar on sharing best practice regarding the identification of children at risk, in particular unaccompanied minors; improving the strategic and tactical intelligence picture on trafficking in human beings and enabling an intelligence-led approach; ensuring that Frontex (the EU's border agency) work on trafficking takes into account the particular circumstances of the most vulnerable victims, in particular children and women.
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The plan also commits member states to sharing lists of priority origin and transit countries and the most frequently encountered routes, as well as improving knowledge on the scale and nature of trafficking in human beings.
(b) The rest of the world
The G8 are committed to tackling the threat of human trafficking and has recently accepted the UK's questionnaire and concept paper on human trafficking and smuggling which was proposed during our presidency. The concept paper and questionnaire will serve to add value to the G8's position on immigration crime and aims to highlight where a joined-up international approach on human trafficking will be most influential by looking at current trends, routings and areas of best practice.
Yes1 person thinks so
No0 people think not
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