BBC Claims That Ireland Is A Gateway For Child Smuggling And Bulgarian Police Arrest Suspect

The Republic of Ireland is being used as a gateway to smuggle children from Bulgaria to Britain, according to claims made in an expose on child trafficking.

A member of an organised criminal gang in Bulgaria told BBC News that their preferred route to smuggle children was across land through France and Ireland.

The Irish Refugee Council has said it is not surprised at the news that Ireland is being used as a gateway for such activity.

The Council's Separated Children's Officer, Jyothi Kanics, said there had been some indications of Ireland being used as a country of transit and destination for the trafficking of persons, but she said what is alarming is that this is affecting young children.

She also said that there is not enough evidence of how human trafficking is working, but that there is some ongoing research into the issue by different agencies looking at the issue.

In a statement this evening in response to the BBC investigation, a spokesperson for the Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan, said there was no evidence to suggest that Ireland has a substantial human trafficking problem.

Bulgarian police detain alleged child trafficker uncovered in TV investigation

Jul 27 2007, 14:28

VARNA, Bulgaria (AP) - Police in the Black Sea city of Varna arrested a man suspected of trafficking children in Europe, after receiving footage from an undercover British television news report on baby smuggling, a police spokeswoman said.

Hasan Ahmed Hasan, 39, was arrested July 26, hours after Varna police received video from the British Broadcasting Corp. that showed the suspect negotiating to sell toddlers and babies, Varna police spokeswoman Kalina Pencheva told The Associated Press.

The footage allegedly shows Hasan talking to the undercover BBC reporters, posing as British customers, about the sale of children for US$82,000.

The BBC report, aired July 26 in Britain, also allegedly shows Hasan promising to bring the babies across internal European borders to London for an additional fee.

Varna police said Hasan, whose wife lives in Scotland, was known also by the name Harry Alexiev Hristov.

In the news broadcast, Hasan is allegedly shown saying he previously had smuggled children to Germany and Norway, and boasting of trafficking prostitutes from Bulgaria to Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Last Updated: 27/07/2007 13:04

Rosslare 'used for child trafficking'

Éanna Ó Caollai

A suspected child trafficker admitted to smuggling children through Rosslare Port during a television documentary broadcast last night.

Hasan Redzheb Hasan (47) was taped by BBC journalists posing as British customers while offering to sell them children for €60,000.

The suspected Bulgarian trafficker has since been arrested in the Black Sea city of Varna after police received a video that showed him trying to sell babies to the undercover BBC journalists.

Hasan admits in the documentary that he previously smuggled children to Germany and Norway and boasted of trafficking prostitutes from Bulgaria to Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney has said the BBC investigation provided further evidence of Ireland being a "soft touch" for international criminal networks.

Mr Coveney called for new legislation and for increased resources for both Customs and the Garda­, "particularly in ports and airports" to help the fight against traffickers.

"Currently Ireland remains the only country in the EU not to adequately define people trafficking in Irish law. Despite promising legislation in this regard more than a year ago, the Fianna Fáil Government has simply not prioritised the bringing forward of necessary legislation."

Rosslare Harbour

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The village of Rosslare Harbour (Calafort Ros Láir in Irish) grew up to serve the needs of the harbour of the same name (now called Rosslare Europort), first developed in 1906 by the Great Western Railway and the Great Southern and Western Railway to accommodate steamferry traffic between Great Britain and Ireland.

Although the harbour itself is located close to the previously existing settlement of Ballygeary, it was named after the village of Rosslare, some 4 km away (8 km by road) along the coast.

The village has a number of guesthouses, hotels, a Roman Catholic church, a bank and some shops. Just south of the harbour is a small strand leading to Greenore Point, where grey seals are usually to be seen.

BBC exposes Bulgarian baby trade

Babies are being illegally offered for sale in Bulgaria with the promise of smuggling them abroad, an undercover BBC News team has discovered.

A self-confessed human trafficker in the resort city of Varna showed off toddlers with a selling price of 60,000 euros (£40,000) each.

The BBC sting was stopped before any children were actually sold.

Bulgaria's interior ministry says it has detained three people, including one who said he was a trafficker.

"Harry", as the smuggler called himself, was led to believe that the baby was destined for a shady British businessman whose criminal record barred him from legal adoption routes.

He never asked what would happen to the child who, he said, could be smuggled to London via routes he had used in the past to traffic prostitutes.

For an extra fee, he said he would personally deliver a child to London.

A BBC TV Ten O'Clock News team which set up the sting spent more than a month in Varna, lulling Harry into revealing his criminal activities.

Bulgaria has been under strong international pressure to crack down on organised crime since joining the European Union earlier this year.