Cross-border laws urged against sex offenders

The European Union should draft laws to crack down on sex offenders committing crimes abroad and to search for foreign offenders in the bloc, an EU advisory body said.

The legislation would mean that sex offenders would not be the sole responsibility of host governments, the European Economic and Social Committee said.

The lack of international partnerships and information sharing meant foreign sex offenders could now travel to the EU without being detected by the authorities.

"It's important to remember this is about Europe as much as Thailand, Cambodia and the rest of the world," EESC rapporteur Madi Sharma said. "Every single child is at risk."

Thailand and Cambodia are notorious as destinations for sex tourism. In a high-profile case elsewhere in southeast Asia, former British pop star Gary Glitter served four years in a Vietnamese prison for child sexual abuse before he was deported in August 2008.

But the sex trade, often involving human trafficking, is also rife in Europe.

One theory in the case of missing British girl Madeleine McCann, not seen since she went went missing from a Portuguese resort in May 2007, is that she was snatched by a paedophile.

"We need to strengthen child protection agencies," Ms Sharma said. "We must look beyond our borders to diminish it."

Because national laws often vary, a sex offender who perpetrates a crime abroad may not be recorded in a country's register of sex offenders even if such a register exists, often allowing them to travel undetected, Ms Sharma said.

Citing the Paris-based Association Against Child Prostitution, she estimated 4.5 per cent of the 842 million travellers worldwide are sex offenders.

The EU should sign agreements with foreign countries to deport convicted sex offenders and bar them from working overseas, Ms Sharma said.