Some 3,000 Vietnamese children are enslaved by criminal gangs in the UK to work in brutal conditions in the European country, a report says.
“By our calculations there are around 3,000 Vietnamese children in the UK who are being used for profit by criminal gangs,” said Philip Ishola, the former head of the UK’s Counter Human Trafficking Bureau, the Guardian reported on Saturday.
Many of the trafficked children end up working on cannabis farms in the UK, while some are forced to work in nail bars, garment factories, brothels, and private homes.
“The police and the authorities are now aware that trafficked children are being forced to work in cannabis farms but this is really only the tip of the iceberg,” Ishola added.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, some 30 Vietnamese children are smuggled into the UK per month.