People traffickers preying on child refugees on borders of Ukraine, Theresa May warns

People traffickers on Europe’s borders are preying on child refugees fleeing war in Ukraine, former prime minister Theresa May has warned.

Ms May called for the UK’s National Crime Agency to take the lead in targeting the gangs responsible for abducting children, and said Border Force officers should be told to watch out for young Ukrainians being smuggled into the UK.

Her warning in the House of Commons followed warnings that the government’s refugee sponsorship scheme may lead to vulnerable Ukrainians falling into the hands of unscrupulous people ready to exploit them for sex or labour unless those offering accommodation are rigorously vetted.

The United Nations estimates around 3m people have now fled Ukraine in the face of murderous attacks by Vladimir Putin’s Russia, the majority of them seeking refuge in Poland but others crossing the border to Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova.

Among them are 1.5m children – the equivalent of almost one every second since the invasion began – according to Unicef figures.

Ms May told MPs that many crossed the border alone, either because they are orphans or because they have been split up from their parents or carers as they fled the violence.

The Conservative former prime minister said: “We have seen the photographs at the border. We know that the numbers are such that this can be chaotic, and it is very difficult.

“There are many unaccompanied children coming over, not necessarily orphans, but children who may not just have their family with them when they come in.

“Some of those children don’t have papers. The Polish authorities, I understand, are making valiant efforts to look for papers, to find papers, to photograph children, to find some sort of record of the children, to identify them.

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“What we know is that there is no database, there is no real means of that identification and tracking of what is happening to those children.”

And she warned that from the moment the invasion began on 24 February, people traffickers began gathering at the borders in the hope of “making money out of this human distress and vulnerability”.

“It’s a sad reflection on human nature, that the very point where these women and children are fleeing Ukraine for their safety to find refuge elsewhere, the criminal gangs have moved in to make money from the trafficking of what they consider to be yet another commodity - that is human beings,” said Ms May.

“This is happening in Poland. It’s happening in other countries where Ukrainian refugees are fleeing to.”

The former PM called on the government to work closely with the UN, EU and tech companies to put in place a system to log and track children and reunite them with their loved ones.

And she called for the National Crime Agency and Border Force to be give roles in fighting unscrupulous people-trafficking gangs.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.