London - West African children are being lured into slavery in Europe by promises of education and a better life, a BBC investigation has found, writes Frank McNally. A report broadcast on Radio 4's Today programme said penniless parents were talked into letting children go by distant relatives or family friends, who also claimed welfare benefits on the children's behalf.
Today journalists travelled to the Ivory Coast to investigate the death of Victoria ClimbiΘ, the eight-year-old who died in Britain in 1999 after months of abuse at the hands of her aunt and the aunt's lover. They interviewed other victims, including a boy who told of being taken aged 13 to Italy as a sex slave by a white friend of his father. Investigators also visited a "maid market" in Abidjan, where teenage girls could be bought for as little as £5, and for $500 were offered false documents which could be used to bring a child to Europe as a "relative".
The Save the Children organisation said organised gangs across West Africa were involved in the trafficking, with the collusion of government officials.
Other charities were reported as saying trafficking from English-speaking countries in West Africa, such as Nigeria, was on a higher scale than the French-speaking Ivory Coast.