Slave traders are reportedly selling children who have survived the Nepal earthquake to United Kingdom families. These children are being sold as domestic slaves.
According to The Guardian, Home Secretary Theresa May has called on the publication Sun newspaper to share their "disturbing findings" regarding the matter so that appropriate action could be taken. An investigation by the aforementioned newspaper suggests that boys and girls as young as 10 years old are being sold for £5,300 (more than $7,500) by black market gangs operating in the Indian province of Punjab.
The Sun newspaper claims that the gangs are targeting the children of Nepalese refugees as well as poor Indian families. The newspaper adds that the children are sold to the British families to be used as unpaid domestic servants.
A reporter is said to have posed as a wealthy Sikh living in Britain who has an ill wife and an elderly mother. The newspaper then said that one of the supposed traders, named Makkhan Singh, reportedly stated they have "supplied lads who have gone to the UK" and most of the children taken to England are Nepalese. Singh also reportedly claimed that there are other costs associated with taking the children to the U.K. but that is covered by the buyers, Evening Standard reported.
May pointed out that child trafficking is an "abhorrent crime." She noow urges the National Crime Agency to investigate the claims of the newspaper. She added that no child in the world "should be taken away from their home and forced to work in slavery." May cited the landmark Modern Slavery act last year, which includes enhanced protections for child victims of slavery. The sentences for these kinds of crimes include life imprisonment if found guilty, Sky News reported.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake has struck Nepal on April 25 last year. It killed almost 9,000 people and left millions needing help.
