Stop the UK from Prosecuting Trafficked Children as Criminals
- by: Care2.com
- recipient: UK Prime Minister David Cameron
Trafficked child workers in the UK are coerced into working for the UK cannabis trade under exploitative conditions. However, they cannot seek help from law enforcement officials in the UK, as they will be prosecuted as criminals for the sale and production of cannabis.
Led by criminal gangs, the cannabis trade recruits poor Vietnamese children, promising work as "gardeners" in the UK. The gangs charge their workers thousands of dollars for this so-called opportunity, which amounts to years of debt that the child workers are expected to pay off. Failure to do so results in threats of violence to their family in Vietnam.
The children are kept in indoor cannabis farms all day, under heat lamps, with no windows or ventilation and constant exposure to toxic chemicals. They are constantly subject to experiencing physical and emotional trauma.
Tell UK Prime Minister David Cameron that prosecuting trafficked child laborers as criminals is horribly unfair, and that what they need is protection. The criminal gangs that are in violation of human rights are the ones that should be punished.
Dear Prime Minister David Cameron,
I am writing to express my deep concern for the way the issue of child trafficking is being handled in the UK.
It has come to international attention that the cannabis trade in the UK continually violates human rights and child labor laws by forcing poor children from Vietnam into working under hazardous conditions under the threat of violence.
Prosecuting children who are coerced into working for illegal trades as criminals is horribly unfair. What they need instead is to be ensured protection by law enforcement officials from the criminal gangs who operate the cannabis trade and essentially enslave them.
[Your comments here]
I urge you to stop trafficked children from being punished as criminals and instead stand up for human rights by targeting the real offenders--the leaders of the criminal gangs.
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
