Child victims of sexual exploitation are being traded back and forth across the land border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

According to a new report, international criminal gangs are increasingly using Northern Ireland as a gateway for trafficking children into Britain.

The report by child protection organisation, Ecpat, said the Republic of Ireland was being used as a transit point for trafficking to the UK and that the NI border and ferry crossings from the Republic to Wales are also favoured.

The authors said children as young as three years old were being bought and sold and the Irish Republic was also strongly criticised by Ecpat.

While the report commended the UK for its efforts in fighting child trafficking, it said the Republic of Ireland was among the worst performing states in the EU.

They are particularly concerned about the number of children who go missing from Irish state care - 441 over the past 10 years.

Campaigners have called on the Irish government to put in place clear systems to help those who have been trafficked and those children at risk.

They said the traffickers are switching their attention to the Irish Sea because of a security clampdown on so-called classic routes through airports and from France, said a report by international child protection organisation Ecpat.

"They are now looking to other points of entry, with the border crossing between Northern Ireland and the Republic being used, as well as the Ireland-Wales ferry crossings."

Children's Rights Alliance (CRA) Chief Executive Jillian van Turnhout demanded tougher laws against traffickers and better support for victims.

"There is a reluctance to acknowledge that this very modern slave trade is happening here in Ireland," she said.

(BMcC/GK)