Page 27 - Getting it Right for Vulnerable Children and Young People in North Ayrshire

support will be crucial in enabling them to recover from their experiences and return to a normal life. All trafficked children are entitled to the same level of care and protection and to have their welfare safeguarded and promoted as those normally resident in the UK, regardless of their immigration status. The UK Government ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in December 2008 which came into force on 1st April 2009. The convention establishes a number of key principles which aim to ensure that children are given specialist care and protection. First is the introduction of the reasonable grounds threshold, which is based on the idea that one should act immediately to protect the child, often before a full identification process has been completed. In law, the reasonable grounds test is based on the principle that “I suspect but cannot prove,” which means that protection measures for children who may have been trafficked should be initiated at the earliest possible opportunity. Article 10 of the convention enshrines the concept of ‘benefit of the doubt’ on age. It states that ‘When the age of the victim is uncertain and there are reasons to believe that the victim is a child, he or she shall be presumed to be a child and shall be accorded special protection measures pending verification of his/her age’. This applies to all authorities including police, immigration and Children’s Social Services. This means that when there are concerns about trafficking and the child states that they are under 18 they must be given the benefit of the doubt and receive services as a child until age can be proved. The Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings ensures that each signatory country has mechanisms in place – The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) – for identifying and recording cases of child trafficking. This formal procedure for assessing and recording all trafficking cases, including children, became operational on 1 April 2009. From this date new arrangements came into force to allow all cases of human trafficking to be referred by frontline agencies for assessment by designated Competent Authorities. In the UK the competent authorities are a central UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC) and a linked authority within UKBA for cases of immigration and asylum. NSPCC Child Trafficking Advice Line - 0808 800 5000(Lines open during office hours) Getting It Right For Vulnerable Children and Young People in North Ayrshire Live V1.2 April 2014 Page No:27