ABSTRACT
Fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq, or Libya, more than one million people arrived in Europe in 2015, including children with families, as well as children separated from them. Several institutions have raised serious concerns about the risks of trafficking for children migrating to Europe. Child trafficking is prevalent not only because of poor law enforcement or poverty; it runs deeper, into questions of the weaker status of children in society, images of childhood and trafficking, questions of availability and effectiveness of mechanisms for child protection, and, ultimately, of societies' readiness to ensure children's human rights. Despite the adoption of the Palermo Protocol in 2000, and the 'euphoria of securing an internationally agreed-upon definition', many legal and practical matters remain to be fully considered. In 2000, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography was adopted (OPSC).
