"Albanian children are trafficked willingly", the English journalist 'explodes': They come knowing that they will be employed by criminal gangs

A BBC journalist has sparked a heated debate in the UK after claiming that young refugees are "willingly trafficked" into the UK with the promise of work.

Mark Easton, the BBC editor speaking about the disappearance of 200 children from Home Office hotels, said the situation was scandalous and that charities had warned the children were at risk of exploitation.

Easton pointed out that nine out of 10 unaccompanied children in UK hotels are Albanian males who "claim to be 16 or 17". He then stated that many young people arriving in the UK did so willingly.

These young people are often trafficked, sometimes willingly. They come knowing they will be hired by UK criminal gangs. They disappear from hotels as soon as they can and are often found working in car washes or cannabis farms.

Zehrah Hasan, director for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), said Easton's comments were "shocking and shameful".

We are talking about children here who deserve the same love, care and protection that we would want for our own children. It is shocking and shameful that, this morning, the BBC implied that these children were somehow to blame for their exploitation. It is not possible to be 'trafficked at will'. We know that predatory networks target vulnerable children, luring them with false promises and then subjecting them to physical abuse, unpaid labor and harsh working conditions.

Even Labor MP Debbie Abrahams reacted strongly to the journalist's statement, writing:

How can you tell that someone has been 'willingly' trafficked? Especially if it's a young one?

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