A code of conduct for employers (bohaddars) has been prepared to stop forced child labour by protecting the rights of children being engaged in vulnerable work at Dublarchar fisheries area, a coastal island at the Bay of Bengal.

The code of conduct prepared by a Khulna based non-government organisation aiming at ensuring appointment of child labourers, determining their salaries and working hours, providing recreational facilities and other child friendly facilities and protecting their safety and security.

The organisers said a memorandum of understating (MoU) to abide by the code of conduct has already been signed with people concerned, including the employers.

As per the code of conduct, no children under 14 can be taken at Dublarchar to work. Parents should be apprised about the type of work, salary and other facilities to be awarded to the children before taking them for work.

It said a reasonable and timely salary has to be given to children for their work. Children can not be engaged in work more than eight hours. They should be allowed time for rest and meal break.

Meals have to be supplied for the children thrice a day. An specific place with necessary bedding has to be given them for sleeping in the night. They will have to be treated if they fall sick and would be refrained from work, the code of conduct said. 

Besides, it said the children should not be given excessive work . They will not be beaten and filthy words can not be used with them. They should be saved from wild animals like crocodile, tiger and snake and possible sex work.

According to the code of conduct, the children should be allowed for playing and recreational activities. Some, they will have to be allowed to meet with their parents.

Sources said a large number of children from Paikgacha in Khulna, Mongla, Rampal and Sharankhola in Bagerhat districts usually go to Dublarchar for work. A section of employees and fishermen forced them to work as slaves.

Prodipan, an NGO based in Khulna, under its Combating Forced Child Labour (CFCL) prepared the code of conduct after consultation with those employers, concerned parents and child labourers to stop forced child labour and ensure their fundamental rights.

Ferdous-ur-Rahman, president of Prodipan said his organisation is working to stop force child labour from Dublarchar.

He said considering the geographical condition, isolation from family and inadequate education health and recreation facilities and unfriendly work atmosphere, the children work at Dublarchar are being repressed and tortured. 

Ferdous hope the code of conduct would help to stop forced child labour in fisheries sector at Dublarchar 

It may be mentioned that Dublar Char comprising different small islands, including, Alorkol of the Sundarban area, Narkelbarier Char, Shelar Char and Chaprakhalir Char, are being used by the fishermen for catching fishes from October to March. 

The children aged between 14 and 18 use to undertake works like cooking, lifting fishes from boats, sorting out fishes and dry them. They have no limit or time table for their work but their food is meagre, payment is poor.

Besides, at least 14 children die every year by the attack of tiger, crocodile, snake and wild pigs. 

According to a research carried out by Prabir Biswas, a researcher of CPD, said a total of 67 children had died of attacks by tigers, crocodiles, sharks and wild pigs in five years from 1998 to 2003.

North Carolina legislators want the state Labor Department to report what it's done to enforce child labor laws as critics complain that its leader's business-friendly philosophy doesn't adequately discipline companies that mistreat workers.

But Republican Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry said the numbers tell the story that her cooperative style has made work sites safer since she was elected in 2000. Her style has led companies to ask her agency for help to comply with labor laws, something that wouldn't happen if they feared the department as an adversary, she said.

The House voted 106-0 on Thursday to direct the Labor Department to report the number of complaints alleging child labor violations, the length of the probes and the number of investigators assigned. The department also would need to report fines and how much was collected.
"It's basically to look at what is going on in terms of child labor law enforcement" after reports that some managers tell underage employees to perform tasks barred to minors, said the bill's primary sponsor, Rep. Jennifer Weiss, D-Wake. Examples can include minors operating power saws or meat slicers, or doing roofing work.

On Wednesday, the House voted unanimously to increase some of the country's lowest penalties for businesses that violate child labor laws. The maximum would double from $250 to $500 for first-time violators, and increase to $1,000 for further violations.

Both measures now move to the Senate.

A 2006 study by University of North Carolina researchers said of the 16- and 17-year-old North Carolina construction workers studied, more than four out of five did prohibited tasks. The Labor Department's 2008 annual report said youth employment complaints account for less than 1 percent of all complaints received, and just 15 complaints involved minors in hazardous occupations.

Say You're One of Them; Uwem Akpan; Little, Brown and Company; Boston; United States; 2008

CHILDREN, along with women, constitute the most vulnerable group in communal conflicts all over the world. Though they may not know or understand the reasons for such conflicts, they usually suffer the most as a result. And, Africa has remained the hotspot of communal conflicts through unstable governments and overtly ambitious leaders, who hang on to power indefinitely. Such mis-governance has variously led to wars or harsh economic situations that inflict untold hardship on this vulnerable group.

This is the group of people that drew the creative imagination of Uwem Akpan to craft some five most engaging, tragic and haunting stories to have been written in recent times. Akpan's treatment of the subject, of children trapped in various intractable dilemma, is one sublime effort that reverberates with great compassion. His narration moves from one unsettling situation to the other and gives children, often neglected in the mainstream of fictional narration, a solid voice to air how they view adult world enmeshed in self-destruct. The five stories chronicle a particular phase in the daunting struggles the continent's children go through as their parent's plunge them into the stark realities of the shameful lives they live for which they are helpless to spare their own children its horrors.

So, from children whose destitute parents cannot afford a Christmas gift in 'An Ex-mas Feast' except the one brought home by their 14-year old prostitute daughter to save the family embarrassment to 'Fattening for Gabon', where an uncle prepares his niece and nephew for sale to vicious 'NGO' parents; the girls so bought serve as prostitutes while the boys are engaged in hard labour. In 'What Language Is That', we see the trauma a child goes through as she is severed from an adoring childhood friend on the basis of religious difference and intolerance.

'Luxurious Hearse' continues the theme of religious conflict seen through the eye of a youth, himself a victim striding both Christian and Muslim faiths. It tells the dramatic tale of Nigeria's north-south in divide with its equally bitter religious divide, its tragic consequences of needlessly wasted lives.
Perhaps, it's in 'My Parents' Bedroom' that the writer offers the most macabre narration in the collection as children watch their parents turn on themselves in the name of ethnic cleansing.

Television images of children suffering in the many war-torn zones of Africa have long offered viewers the plight of the continent's most vulnerable group. But Akpan's collection offers readers another side that a television screen cannot. His stories underscore a reality so stark and disturbing in its sustained madness the mind reels in revulsion at those who perennially plunge a section of the continent in trouble, be it economic woes or actual war from which children are not immune.

'An Ex-mas Gift' and 'Fattening for Gabon' situate children in the economic war zone that plagues the continent. Jigana's family begs on the streets of Kenya; they live in a tent. Nevertheless, the direness of their situation does not stop the parents from having five children. The eldest daughter, Maisha, who is 12 years old, has turned to prostitution so as to contribute her share to the family's upkeep. Through Jigana's narration readers see the family's immense difficulties, their struggle to send him to school through Maisha's proceeds, how he revolts against his sister's trade and offers to stop school if his sister moves to Mombassa, where white tourists make prostitution a boom business. The family is hooked to taking kabire, a local, coarse drug to kill hunger, which their meager earnings cannot assuage. Maisha's leaving for her illicit trade shatters the family's peace as Jigana also leaves home to settle for street life fully.

Jigana narrates his sister's leaving home thus and its devastating effects on the family: "Our parents paused as the driver helped her put it into the car. My mother began to cry. Baba shouted at the streets...I sneaked inside and poured fresh kabire and sniff. I got my exercise book from the carton and ripped it into shreds...I got my pair of trousers and two shirts and put them on, over my clothes...As the car pulled away with Maisha, our mourning attracted kids from the gangs...I hid among a group of retreating kids and slipped away...and disappeared into Nairobi. My last memory of my family was of the twins burping and giggling."

'Fattening for Gabon' tells of child trafficking. Parents incapacitated through contracting the HIV/AIDS disease give two of their children to the man's brother to care for. But Fofo Kpee, a vicious tout, has seen hard times along the border town near Badagry. His nephew and niece present him a way out of his hard life; he hatches a plot to sell them to NGO foster parents with dubious intentions. Fofo Kpee starts reaping the benefits of his Gabon deal; he gets Nanfang motorcycle and regular income to fatten the two children up before being taken to Gabon for child labour.

Through Kotchikpa's narration readers see the transformation of Fofo Kpee as he turns from celebrating his new-found wealth to despair at what possibly awaited his brother's children in Gabon. Vivid is the picture of the children being prepared for their journey in a most bizarre manner; their curiosity to understand the nature and need for the trip. When their uncle makes to escape with them in the night, readers share in the harrowing experience, and also as they grapple with the reality of the murder of their uncle who had failed to deliver on his word to sell his wards.

'What Language Is That' starts the theme on the religious woes of the continent with its devastating effects on children. A little girl is prohibited from speaking to her best friend across the street in Addis Ababa because there had been a riot between Muslims and Christians. The frustration of the poor child is palpable. How can parents explain away their ban on a child's need to connect with her friends and build social relations on the basis of religion, which ought to unite? In response, the parents simply take their daughter away for a while to dull the feelings of loneliness and loss of companionship. It's a poor response, but it's all the parents have for a crisis they don't know how to resolve themselves. But for how long...when the next violence erupts again? How can the innocent mind of a child grasp such absurdity from adults who ought to know better?

"You yawned and jumped out of bed... "I'm going to see Best Friend." ... "Honey, we don't want you to play with that girl anymore."... "What girl?"... "That Muslim girl," Mommy said, moving her huge body close to you... "Best Friend?"...Silence..."
The tension between a child and her parents in that awkward situation is stifling but inescapable.

'Luxurious Hearse' goes the extra mile in exploring the theme of religious intolerance in a multi-ethnic setting. Nigeria offers a mind-bugging example. Ethnicity and religion are twin evils that continually plague the land. Jubril's father is from the south, a Christian while his mother is from the north, a Muslim. However, this status becomes a burden in the heat of religious madness that periodically engulfs the north. Jubril's southern root makes him less a good Muslim since he was also baptized at birth as a Catholic; not even having willingly submitted his right arm to be amputated for stealing a goat sufficiently makes him a valid Muslim. In the religious riots that shatter the fragile peace of Kamfi, Jubril, who becomes Gabriel, to hide his identity in the luxurious bus going south, becomes a victim of the madness he had helped to fuel in the past.

But his attempt to flee the north is hampered by a southern chief who appropriates his seat in the bus. This action exposes him to the swinging, volatile mood in the bus as passengers are trapped for lack of fuel that was readily available for the rampaging mobs to set churches and southerners on fire. 'Luxurious Hearse' is one huge tragic-comic narrative that provides a dramatic swing of events in a fascinating manner.
In the end, Jubril (Gabriel) is set upon by his southern compatriots to whom he is fleeing to take refuge from his northern, fanatical friends, with whom he had denounced his own blood brother to assert his place as a Muslim. His death is symbolic, and offered as a sacrifice to placate whatever restless god fuels these religious crises.

'My Parents Bedroom' reverberates with the tragic and haunting theme of ethnic cleansing that characterized Rwanda genocidal war in the 1990s between the Tutsis and Hutus. Not even the intertribal marriage that ought to act as a restraining effect could do much to douse the tendency for one tribe to liquidate the other.

Through the eyes of Monique and Jean, children of the same parents, an account of the fanatical frenzy with which the bond of marriage vanishes like mirage is told. Monique's father, a Hutu must kill his Tutsi wife to appease his fellow Hutu people that he believed in the macabre cause of their race because his brother Andre has also killed his pregnant wife. So he murders his wife in front of his daughter and son. In the ethnic madness that seizes the land, education, religion and marriage are no barriers to the orgy of killings once the ethnic origin of the next person is established to be the 'other'. Moniques's parents are well educated yet they are drawn into the ethnic bigotry sweeping through the land.

The innocent world of Monique is shattered when his uncle Andre bursts in their home with his band of ethnic cleansers as she narrates: "They look victorious, like soccer champions. I know some of them. Our church usher, Monsieur Paschal, is humming and chanting and wears a bandana. Mademoiselle Angelique, my teacher's daughter, is dancing to the chants, as if to reggae beats, she gives a thumbs-up for Monsieur Francois, who is the preacher at the nearby Adventist Church."

However, Monique's parents are heroic people unwillingly drawn into a reign of terror and bloodletting. They hide Tutsis in their ceiling before Monique's father is cornered to kill his wife. And, when Hutus come calling to avenge the murder of their daughter, and finding none, set the house on fire. Monique tells the tragic consequences of that revenge mission as she and her brother stumble into the dark, uncertain night, lost to their parents forever:
"These are our people on Maman's side, and they're all in military clothes. Like another soccer fan club, they're chanting about how they're going to kill Papa's people. Some of them have guns. If Papa couldn't spare Maman's life, would my mother's relatives spare mine? Or my brother's?

"I slip into the bush, with Jean on my back...Jean presses hard against me, his face digging into my back. "Maman says do not be afraid," I tell him. We want to live; we don't want to die. I must be strong.

"After the mob runs past us, I return to the road and look back. They drag Maman out by the legs and set fire to the house. By the time their fellow Tutsis in the ceiling begin to shout, the fire is unstoppable. They run on. They run after Papa's people. We walk forward..."

Indeed, Monique and her brother walk forward from the zone of madness that has engulfed her parents, as children of the continent crave to walk away from the horrors that plague their land. Through her voice and those of the other children, Akpan has established a literary canon for children. No longer are they marginalised as they share with the reader the trauma they too go through in the hands of adults. This is a new and refreshing narrative vision that dredges great compassion and emotion. Akpan's language is also crisp and lyrical; no wasted words. His images, too, are starling and dramatic.

The currency of his themes situates his stories in the realm of social realism; it's difficult to escape the tragic moods envisioned in these stories. They are stories that touch humanity in different and haunting ways. Akpan's winning the Commonwealth prize for African region with this collection is no surprise. Winning at the overall level as best first book is a matter of time with the brilliancy of these stories that claim a part of people in their telling narration.

Child victims of trafficking have been found across Wales, says a new report today.

The children were either known or suspected to have been exploited through being forced to work in restaurants and takeaways, in the production of cannabis, in sexual exploitation, in begging and in domestic servitude. 

Some of the children were identified before the exploitation occurred and practitioners can only surmise what may have happened to them had they not been detected, says the study.

Children in the study came from a range of countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East and the two largest groups were from China and Nigeria. 

The research was commissioned by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner Wales to consider what evidence there is for child trafficking in the country. It was conducted by children's protection organisation ECPAT UK.

Child trafficking involves moving children across or within national or international borders for the purposes of exploitation.

The study found evidence of children who may have been trafficked into, within and out of Wales, including towns outside of South Wales. 

Forty five children were reported as causing concern and 32 of them met sufficient criteria to be included in the results of the study. 

The study examines the experiences of 41 practitioners from Local Authority Children’s Social Services, the Voluntary Sector and the Police across Wales. 

Semi-structured face to face interviews were conducted in the four research locations of Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and Wrexham. Data from across Wales was collected through questionnaires addressed to the Directors of Local Authority Children’s Services and from individuals who hold strategic posts in Wales. 

Interviewees were asked about their experiences over the past two years of working with children from abroad who may have been exploited and multi-agency working in relation to these children.

A key finding of the study is that child victims of trafficking were found across Wales, including rural areas outside of South East Wales. 

This contrasted sharply with the view held by many of the interviewees that child trafficking is limited to urban areas. Of concern was the number of separated children living with unknown adults in takeaways in both urban and rural areas. 

As one respondent put it: "There are lots of kebab shops here, we don’t know who would be working in them, don’t think that is ever really looked into”.

Cases of suspected sexual exploitation and trafficking for forced marriage were also found outside of South East Wales.

“Many issues emerged that were familiar from previous ECPAT UK research, such as incidences of children going missing and difficulties of identification,” says the report.

“Worryingly, other new trends were uncovered such as the lack of private fostering assessments even after identification and the lack of data collection on how and why these children arrived in Wales.

“A recurring theme throughout the study was the difficulty practitioners have in identifying whether or not a child has been trafficked. In our view, this stems from three interlinked areas; attitudes, knowledge and practice, on both personal and organisational levels.

“Attitudes as to whether trafficking could happen in Wales varied greatly but some practitioners struggled with the idea that it was taking place in their local area. Trafficking was spoken about as something than ‘happens elsewhere’, especially in cities in South East Wales with practitioners citing newspaper reports as evidence of this. 

“Accepting the possibility of child trafficking can happen locally is the foundation for all future action and intervention. Identification of trafficked children depends on the acceptance the possibility that the problem actually exists.

“As far as knowledge is concerned, it is essential that practitioners have opportunities to gain information and understanding in this area. 

“Since safeguarding procedures are core to the responses to child victims of trafficking, it is important for practitioners to learn about trafficking, the contexts in which it occurs and the difficulties that both the children and practitioners may face. In this small study, we found that knowledge levels varied greatly. In some areas, there were pockets of expertise but in others individuals described how they struggled to get information.

“If attitudes are poor and knowledge not developed, the practice of safeguarding trafficked children and promoting their welfare becomes almost impossible. 

“In our view, it is why some of the children described in this study were left so vulnerable. 

“This is both a management issue and an individual responsibility. It is incumbent on agencies that come into contact with children from abroad to provide good support to their staff to enable them to work effectively.”

The conflict in Sri Lanka has killed hundreds of children and left many more injured, the United Nations' children's agency, Unicef, has said.

The conflict in Sri Lanka has killed hundreds of children and left many more injured, the United Nations' children's agency, Unicef, has said.

Moreover, thousands of children are at risk because of "a critical lack of food, water and medicines", the agency says.
Intense fighting is going on between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in north-eastern Sri Lanka.
The Tigers have been driven from most of the territory they held by the army.

They are now cornered in a small patch of jungle and coastal area in Mullaitivu district.

See map of the region
"Children and their families caught in the conflict zone are at risk of dying from disease and malnutrition," Unicef executive director Ann Veneman said in a statement.

"Regular, safe access for humanitarian agencies is urgently required, so that life-saving supplies can be provided, and civilians must be allowed to move to safe areas where essential humanitarian support is more readily available.

"The rights of children caught in the conflict must be fully respected and every effort should be taken to prevent civilian casualties," Ms Veneman said.

A statement released by the aid agency, Care International, said that one of its humanitarian workers was killed on Tuesday in the military-designated "safe zone" in the conflict zone which is not supposed to come under fire.

In the latest fighting, the army said it had killed at least 18 Tamil Tigers, while the pro-rebel TamilNet website said that 52 civilians had been killed in army shelling in the "safe zone".

Quoting rebel sources, TamilNet also says that hundreds of Sri Lankan soldiers have recently been killed.

Independent journalists are not allowed by the government into the war zone, so it is impossible to verify the claims of either side.

The army says that the rebels are now cornered inside a 30 sq km (12 sq mile) area of the north-east, and that it is on the verge of delivering a "final blow" to their 25-year separatist rebellion.

But tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped inside rebel territory, most of them in a narrow coastal strip which forms the "safe zone".

Government health officials in the north-east say that hundreds of deaths due to wounds and serious diseases could be prevented if more medical supplies and facilities were made available.

A letter to the health ministry written by the regional health directors for Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts says that they have been forced to move their treatment centres because the Tamil Tigers are making the civilian population flee with them whenever the army advances.

"More than 500 civilian deaths, either on or after admission, have been registered at the hospitals and thousands of civilian deaths could have gone unrecorded as they were not brought to the hospitals," the letter said.

The health ministry confirmed the letter's authenticity to the Reuters news agency and conceded that there may be a drugs shortage because of the difficulty of bringing in supplies by a system of ferries and smaller boats.

The Tamil Tigers have fought for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority since 1983.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the war, but that figure could now be far higher because of intensified fighting in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that the condition for civilians in the north was "deteriorating by the day".

"The area is affected by shelling every day, and the cramped conditions and the lack of water and proper sanitation are putting people at risk," an ICRC statement said

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7949814.stm

Staff Correspondent
The government is actively considering formulation of the National Child Labour Policy to eliminate child labour -- especially hazardous labour -- from the country, State Minister for Labour and Employment Monnujan Sufian said yesterday.

The government has taken up a five-year project to eliminate child labour, she said at a national seminar on Child Labour and Education at a city hotel.

"We have provided education along with vocational training to around 10,000 poor children involved in hazardous labour. A process is underway to train a further 30,000 children," Monnujan said.

She said child labour was not only a rights issue but also a development one.

The United Nation's childrens fund Unicef, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Unesco jointly organised the seminar yesterday following a four-day Capacity Building Training attended by representatives from different ministries, employers, workers and members of the civil society.

Monnujan said under the non-formal education programme, the government has set up schools in different districts for working children. Terming child labour a socio-economic problem in the country, the minister also stressed the need for poverty reduction to fight the problem.

Director of ILO Country Office Panudda Boonpala said basic education and training for jobs in the labour market is extremely important and all sectors have to work together in this regard.

"The education system has to include the needs of marginalised children and a comprehensive holistic education policy is needed," said Carel de Rooy, country representative of Unicef.

Among others, Director and Country Representative of Unesco Malama Meleisea, Head of the Child Labour Unit and Joint Secretary (labour) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Azizur Rahman also spoke at the seminar.

During the capacity building training the participants discussed current situation of child labour and education in the country and challenges in eliminating worst forms of child labour.

They also made recommendations to eliminate child labour, their points including a multisectoral approach to the problem. They also recommended ratification of section 138 of the ILO Convention where the minimum age of the children in hazardous job is fixed and adoption of the National Child Labour Policy underlined as a matter of urgency.

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Legislature unanimously sent Gov. Chet Culver a measure toughening the state's labor laws in the wake of an Immigration raid at the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant in Postville. 

The Senate gave the measure final legislative approval on a 48-0 vote and sent it to Culver, who is expected to sign it into law. The House earlier approved the measure on a 97-0 vote, with both chambers voicing outrage at the labor practices at the Agriprocessors plant. 

"It exposed tremendous gaps in Iowa's labor laws," said Sen. Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines, a main backer of the effort. 

Dearden says the effort toughens both child labor laws and wage laws for companies that don't pay workers promised wages. 

Dearden noted that most of the attention from the raid had gone to the number of illegal immigrants who were captured at the plant, and the role of executives at the pant in recruiting those workers. 

At the same time, the probe has shown that the company also faced multiple charges of child labor. In many cases, workers weren't paid wages that were promised. 

Critics argued that illegal immigrants were in no position to contest the wages, and that the company faces 57 charges of using child labor. 

The measure sent to Culver significantly increases the fines companies face for each violation of the wage or child labor laws. 

Backers said Agriprocessors now faces roughly $9 million in fines. It would have faced fines of about $50 million if the tougher penalties had been on the books. 

In addition to criminal fines, the measure sent to Culver allows civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation of the child labor laws. 

Supporters said that would have significantly added to the Agriprocessors liability. 

"Failure to enforce wage laws cheats legal workers and isn't fair to other businesses," said Dearden. 

Children as young as three are being trafficked to Wales from China, Bangladesh and Nigeria for sex, drugs and domestic servitude, a study shows.

Of 32 cases referred to, there were more instances of boys than girls.

The children were described as being victims of sexual exploitation, street crime, domestic servitude, cannabis production and forced labour.

The report, Bordering on Concern, was carried out for the children's commissioner for Wales, Keith Towler.

The study, conducted by children's protection organisation ECPAT UK, was asked to find an evidence base for child trafficking in Wales.

Authors of the report said: "Children who may have been trafficked are extremely vulnerable.

"Many will have experienced at least one form of abuse, whether physical, sexual, emotional or neglect, often of an extreme nature.

"Children are raped, beaten, tortured, deprived of their basic needs and enslaved.

"They are moved from their country of origin to one or more new countries, by individuals or gangs who have tricked or deceived them."

The study examined the levels of awareness of child trafficking issues among social services and selected voluntary sector organisations and the levels of cooperation.

It also looked at how identified cases of child trafficking had been dealt with by social services.

The report said: "Evidence was found of confirmed and suspected cases of child trafficking encountered by social services, the voluntary sector and the police.

"Data was gathered from 41 practitioners who described 32 cases that caused them concern."

As a result of the report, a number of recommendations have been made by Mr Towler.

It includes setting up of an all-Wales group on trafficking by the assembly government.
He said he hoped the research would "help shift the culture of disbelief" that has surrounded the issue in Wales.

"For child trafficking to be tackled effectively there first has to be an acceptance that it exists," he said.

"The sample we've got here is small but is undoubtedly only the tip of the iceberg.

"I hope this research will help shift the culture of disbelief and that practitioners will start working together to ensure all children and young people in Wales - wherever they originate - enjoy the same rights, including the right to be safeguarded."

Christine Beddoe, from child protection organisation ECPAT UK, who led the study added: "Trafficked children were found throughout Wales but there was evidence of a number of barriers to identifying children and keeping them safe.
"Of these barriers the most worrying was that professionals didn't believe it could happen. This left children vulnerable.
"Government agencies must actively promote child trafficking as an issue that can and does happen in their local area."
The Welsh Assembly Government said: "The assembly government issued Safeguarding Children Who May Have Been Trafficked in April 2008 to professionals and volunteers from all agencies to help them effectively safeguard children who might have been trafficked.

"The Welsh Assembly Government has met the children's commissioner's office to discuss the report and will be considering its recommendations carefully, before deciding what action is required."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/childhood/7948738.stm