“There is a general lack of understanding, capacity, resources, will and clarity surrounding the procedures and responsibilities of agencies in each sector.”

Child trafficking is of great concern to the country at issue in the news I'm writing about today from which the quote above was made and where the top five "source countries for trafficked children" are identified as China, Nigeria, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Eritrea, and the children once trafficked in are said to be forced to work in "cannabis factories, beg on the streets, turned into domestic “slaves” and drawn into the sex trade and benefit fraud."

The country where these horrors are occurring daily? The United Kingdom.

In a recent study sponsored by the Home Office, it was determined that human trafficking is now a "real and significant threat" in Britain.

Due to the obviously secret nature of the practice, and the unsavory characters involved in the big business that is human beings, there are no real numbers on how many kids are trafficked into the UK, but reportedly there have been 330 cases identified.

(Frighteningly, but unfortunately not surprisingly, over half of the trafficked children rescued and placed in the care of local authorities have disappeared from that care without a trace.)

According to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, it is organized gangs ... many linked to the sex and drug trades ... conducting the business of humans as chattel. Albania and China appear to have the most sophisticated organizations, but it's often "extended families that bring children over from source countries" to work as domestics.

It is mainly girls as product, and most between the ages of 14 and 17, but boys and babies are trafficked, as well.

Although it's certain some are brought in "debt bondage" to work in the UK's highly efficient cannabis production factories, there is suspicion that the country may also serve as a transit country.

The plan is now to set up a system to take biometric information on every child entering the UK, although there is no explanation in this report as to how that will eliminate the problem or help with a solution.

Clearly, the world is not necessarily a nice place to be a kid, and it doesn't much matter what part of the world we're talking about.

The visceral reaction I have to this story has no little to do with the fact that the UK suspended adoptions from Cambodia ... a bit of bandwagon jumping as I see it ... over fears of trafficking. Sounds like removing the option of adoption for Cambodian children hasn't helped much of anything.