Int'l Scouts missing after jamborees

LONDON, June 22 (UPI) -- Children have used International Scout and Girl Guide jamborees as a way to escape their homeland, officials allege.

The Times of London reported Sunday that six Scouts are still missing after attending the 21st World Scout Jamboree near Chelmsford, Essex, last summer, and five Kenyan Girl Guides disappeared after attending an international jamboree in Ireland last July.

"We would be extremely concerned if we were being used as a conduit for child trafficking," said Linda Peters, chief executive of the Irish Girl Guides.

"We are now in the summer season and parents are saying, 'Is it safe to send our children to camp?' We have to stress security is very tight."

At last year's World Scout Jamboree in Essex, 13 Scouts went missing and six are still unaccounted for, the newspaper said.

Essex police believe the missing Scouts, who came from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Uganda and Nigeria, may have wanted to stay in England illegally.

"We do not have concerns about their health and welfare," a spokesman said.