21. Supply the correct form of the verbs given in brackets and perform the role play given below. Somali Children in Exodus to Europe

Thousands of children (1) _______________ (to smuggle) into Europe from war-ravaged Somalia every year, with Britain (2) _______________ (to be) the most popular destination, according to a UN report (3) _______________ (to release) yesterday.

Smugglers in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, told the UN that 250 children (4) _______________ (to smuggle) out of the city each month until last year.

Increased security at airports and borders reduced that figure to about 60; but it now (5) _______________ (to say) (6) ______________ (to rise) again as smugglers find more ingenious routes. Prices (7) _______________ (to double) and parents (8) _______________ (to pay) about £5,000 to smuggle a child, most of whom are teenagers.

The parents’ resolve is understandable: Somalia is steeped in violence, and (9) _______________ (to have) almost no education or healthcare. The UN children’s agency Unicef, (10) _______________ (to rank) Somalia as the worst place in the world to be a child.

However, the report says that many of the children drift into crime and prostitution after simply (11) _______________ (to abandon) at European airports.

The report’s author, Lucy Hannon, said yesterday: “It clearly takes more than strong-arm policies on asylum seekers to stop people (12) _______________ (to come).”

Many smugglers named Britain as their most popular destination. Several smugglers said British passports (13) _________ (modal verb) (14) _______________ (to buy) from corrupt immigration officials, or (15) _______________ (to rent) from ethnic Somali citizens.

Ethiopia is one of the channels for smugglers, and a British foreign office official (16) _______________ (to quote) in the report said the British embassy in Addis Ababa (17) _______________ (to make) DNA testing compulsory for Somali asylum seekers, to try (18) _______________ (to stop) unrelated children (19) _______________ (to accept) with families which (20) _______________ (to offer) asylums.

Former British immigration officials (21) _______________ (to hire) by some Somali groups (22) _______________ (to abuse) the law to find loopholes in the system, the British officials claimed. Most smugglers, however, are Somalis with UK passports who (23) _______________ (to pass) the children off as their dependents, the report said.

(From ‘The Guardian’, abridged)

Role play. You are taking part in a TV program devoted to the problem of children smuggled out of African countries.

Role 1. You are Joseph(ina) Smith, the leader of the role play. Introduce the problem to be discussed and ask the participants to speak. Comment on the information they present.

Role 2. You are Lucy Hannon from the UN children’s agency Unicef. Speak about the essence of the report you prepared for your agency and explain why so many children are smuggled into the UK.

Role 3. You are Jeremy Douglas, a British immigration official. Explain how African children are smuggled into Great Britain. Express your ideas on how this criminal business could be stopped.