LONDON (AFP) Britain has vowed to investigate a report that traffickers used a children's home near London's Heathrow airport as a "clearing house" for Chinese minors smuggled in to become prostitutes.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown made the pledge after the Guardian newspaper reported that border officials met unaccompanied Chinese children at Heathrow and took them to the home, but they disappeared within days or weeks.

A secret document seen by the paper said that since March 2006, 10 children had jumped out of windows at the 59-bed home, some had disappeared during fire drills and others simply walked out and got into cars waiting outside.

Only four of the children were found. Two girls later reappeared after being forced to work in brothels in central England. One was pregnant while another had undergone surgery to have a contraceptive device fitted in her arm.

Brown said his government would investigate the report.

"Child trafficking is completely unacceptable and inhumane. Anything that we can do to stop child trafficking, we will," he told his weekly question and answer session in parliament.

"We will do everything we can to protect these children and we are leading internationally in asking other countries to help us ban the practice of trafficking children," he added.

The Guardian said it was feared that many of the children taken to the home were forced into prostitution, or to work on cannabis farms or selling counterfeit goods on the streets.

The UK Border Agency document said the missing children had been trafficked by an international network with agents in countries including China, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia and Kenya.

The London council which runs the home said the disappearances appeared to be "planned and coordinated by criminal gangs".

"They were being trafficked and there has been organised movement through the facility," Julian Worcester, the deputy director of children's services for the Hillingdon council, told the newspaper.

The UK Border Agency called on local authorities -- which have responsibility for children's homes -- to be "particularly vigilant" to prevent unaccompanied children falling under the control of traffickers.

A spokeswoman said: "Like any other child in need of protection, local authorities have a statutory duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of trafficked children following an assessment of their individual needs.

"When a child believed to have been trafficked is reported as 'missing' from care, it is essential that the local authority works with the police and the UK Border Agency to locate the child and assist in any prosecution of their traffickers."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090507/wl_afp/britainchinachildrentrafficking;_ylt=AvwWnCym6fSF207eFJUnRCt0bBAF

One was pregnant while another had undergone surgery to have a contraceptive device fitted in her arm.

Huh? First time I hear something like that. Sounds like something the Japanese would do. lol.


F.uck an eye for an eye. You take my eye, and I will kill you, and all those you care about. That is our policy.

China's Foreign Ministry said it is "verifying" claims that 77 Chinese children went missing from a home in Britain, allegedly sold to work in the prostitution and drugs trade.

British newspaper The Guardian, citing a secret immigration document on Tuesday, said at least 77 Chinese children had gone missing since March 2006 from the children's home, operated by the London borough of Hillingdon.

The anti-human trafficking office, under China's Ministry of Public Security, said on Friday that it has learnt of the case and Chinese police may take part in the investigation.

Chinese police have experience in taking joint action with other countries in cracking down on human trafficking, said the office. It has signed a memorandum of cooperation with its British counterparts, so if the trafficked children were Chinese citizens, the office can become involved.

The Guardian cited the "restricted" report as saying victims of a trafficking network, that has agents based as far apart as China, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia and Kenya, arrived at the home just outside the airport perimeter, only to disappear almost immediately.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-05/09/content_7759979.htm
China's embassy in London said on Friday it hoped the UK side could clarify the issue as soon as possible.

An embassy spokesman said China is opposed to human trafficking of all kinds.

Only four of the 77 children have been found, according to The Guardian. Two girls returned after a year of exploitation in brothels in the Midlands. Others, said the article, are coerced with physical threats to work as street-sellers of counterfeit goods. It is thought many also work on illegal cannabis farms.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown vowed on Wednesday to investigate the report.