General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Looks like Maria will be back in the loving arms of her family soon [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)If you watch the PANORAMA programme that aired on this topic, you'll see the villas, the wealth disparity, and the way the children are used as commodities. The Roma are both traffickers and trafficked; the poor are used by the wealthy, the children serve as livestock, cash cows, who beg, steal and get married off for a price. There is a value inherent in children--a CASH value. They're little earners, worth a hundred grand or more a year.
Also, when the couple turned on one another in jail (and they did, quickly, too) each accused the other of scooping up the kid for her earning potential. Sometimes, if it walks like a duck....
It's not like the Greeks just marched through this town (not a "camp"--these folks were not the "pick up and run" types, they were settled, Greek citizens, drawing social assistance benefits from way too many municipalities) and started busting down doors to screw with these people, they were targets of an investigation into drugs/guns/stolen property, and they found all of the foregoing when they went into that town. The kid was not part of the equation--she just stuck out, like she didn't belong.
Child exploitation IS a problem. Take an hour and watch this--it will curl (or uncurl) your hair.