Fears are growing for a teenage girl smuggled into Britain who disappeared from the council home where she was placed into care.

Coi Kamell, 16, arrived in England from Kenya with no family six months ago.

She was put into care and provided with health care and education.

But now the youngster has triggered alarm after she disappeared without warning a fortnight ago.

Sources said that the Kenyan girl was brought to Britain by the child trafficking network which is rapidly increasing.

The authorities have issued urgent pleas for Coi to get in touch, saying the youngster's age and recent arrival in this country make her very vulnerable.

After Coi's arrival in Britain, she and another asylum seeker were set up in a secure flat in the Byker area of Newcastle and the 16-year-old registered as a part-time student at Newcastle College.

She had good English and was known to socialise on Newcastle Quayside, but on August 1 she disappeared without warning from her flat, taking clothes and personal belongings.

Despite urgent police appeals, there has been no news of her since.

Last week, the international children's aid charity, Unicef UK, raised the problem of criminal gangs smuggling children into the North, as police begin to crack down on their activities in the South.

And the charity said there had been cases of youngsters like Coi falling backinto the grips of the smugglers.

Louis Coles, Unicef UK's North-East region fund-raising manager, said: "Coi's case follows a pattern we are becoming all too familiar with.

"Unfortunately, there are many children plucked from safe houses or who actively seek out the traffickers and return to them.

"We know of traffickers who use witch doctors and black magic, addictive drugs, sexual and mental abuse to keep control of the children they bring to this country.

"It is good for councils to offer these children help, but they need more resources to protect them properly - there is only one secure house in this country and none in the North of England."

Coi is one of 15 victims of the trafficking trade taken into care by Newcastle City Council social services.

The Kenyan has brown eyes, shoulder-length dark hair, is of medium build and 5ft 8ins tall.

She was granted automatic asylum in the UK for two years, in line with international children's rights legislation.

A Newcastle City Council spokeswoman said: "She was provided with a safe and secure place to live, but she was 16 years old and free to come and go as she pleased.

"We are concerned about Coi and we would urge her to contact social services or the police, to let us know that she is safe."

Coun John O'Shea, cabinet member for social services and health, said: "Clearly a young lady has gone missing when she was in the care of the council and we need a full inquiry into what has happened.

"I don't think we are looking for someone to blame in these circumstances, but we need to know exactly what has happened."

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said: "We have no evidence that Coi was a victim of child trafficking, but we are very concerned about her, because her age and her recent arrival in this country make her vulnerable.

"We would like to appeal again to Coi or anyone who knows her whereabouts to get in touch with us.

"We are investigating the wider problem of child trafficking, but our inquiries are at an early stage.

"We are working closely with multi-partner agencies to tackle this."

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