UK Minister 'shocked and surprised' by Asian sex tourism
June 17, 2004
Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett is "shocked and surprised" by the extent
of the sex tourism problem in South East Asia.
He spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live after returning from a fact finding mission there.
He spoke of making the message clear that "using children in this way is wholly
unacceptable - we will not tolerate and we will do all we can to stop it."
"We have a responsibility because in a sense we cause the problem. It is very
often men from Western European countries who are taking advantage of young
children."
He acknowledged that it was difficult for British police to tackle the problem
but said that Britain would share knowledge and pool information with police
forces in other countries.
It is estimated that around 250,000 paedophiles a year travel to the Third
World in search of child prostitutes. Thailand and the Phillipines are amongst
the most favoured destinations.
Widespread poverty and lax law inforcement have meant paedophiles from the West
have little problem finding children to exploit.
"We're beginning to see a recognition throughout Western Europe that this is a
problem we have to respond to," Mr Fatchett said.
Last year the government introduced legislation enabling British courts to try
paedophiles who offend on trips abroad but as yet no prosecutions have
beenbrought in British courts and the police are doubtful about how workable
the new law is.
A conference will be held later this year to look at further measures to deal
with the problem.
Children's charities say that a million children enter the global sex market
every year and that in Asia alone more than 650,000 children under the age of
16 work as prostitutes.
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