Portugal covering up pedophilles targetting Brit kids - Boycott?

[bkgirl]

Channel 4 news has informed us that 9 young children were abused in the area where Madelaine mc Cann went missing between 2004 - 2010.They were british children, on hols and the portuguese police have concealed this info. Their parents came forward to Scotland Yard and gave them the info independently.
The Yard has outstanding requests for info for up to 6 months and to say the portuguese are dragging their heels is putting it mildly.
Seriously, we need so sort of sanction/embargo/boycott to FORCE the portuguese authorities to realise our children are not sacrificial. Can their embassador be called and admonished? Come on, what can we DO?

But Ben needham vanished in Kos, and the police were pretty pants too

I don't know so much about the Ben needham case. Did the police act so wilfully incompetently and try and frame the family there too?

I make choices. I struggle to understand why people don't get that.

I don't think the parents had left 3 tiny children in a flat at night on their own either, so prob raised less suspicions in general. They didn't try to frame them... I thought They held them as suspects.

Yes, interested in who has boycotted BBC tv and BBC radio...

Ah here we go.

Ah I see now. Anyway you crack on with boycotting Portugal. I'll def miss you on the beach.

Unfortunately this can happen anywhere from be it a village in the English countryside or a tourist resort in Portugal. We would all become prisoners in our own homes if we boycotted countries where crimes against children have happened. Places like Praia da luz are heavily reliant on the tourist industry, can you imagine the effect it would have on local children if their parents lost their jobs in the local hotels because tourists had boycotted the area.

Well, I don't have to go on holiday where I know the police deliberately did nothing about a missing child for days and then led a campaign to incriminate her parents.

You know none of that happened in the real world don't you?

The embellishment of a story until the original facts become lost is a strange phenomenon. I suppose it's about making the news more entertaining.

I feel like boycotting London. I live here.

The Met murdered a foreign student and then lied about it.

They look bribes about the murder of a young man to look the other way, tried to discredit his family and when the shit hit the fan, spent 2 days shredding a lorryload of paperwork.

They turned away women (including tourists) who complained of rape, allowing a man to continue raping, scores of victims.

etc.

Yes the Portuguese police look like they did a shit job and covered up and hid evidence.
We do that all the time too.
And in other parts of the world, raping little girls is a standard part of life (child brides etc).

So, I agree with Coraltoes.

Which isn't to say that they shouldn't pursue this man and other leads. Of course they should. But our own house is far from in order, and we can hardly boycott ourselves.

I would not take my family there, but neither would I take them to the middle east, india, asia, Africa or turkey. None seem like safe places to take children.

On crimewatch, it was said they knew about the other attacks ie. information wasn't withheld, just at that time in the investigation they were considered too far from the mccans resort to be of any significance.

Well, I don't have to go on holiday where I know the police deliberately did nothing about a missing child for days

That is completely untrue.

I would never go there either but more because it just feels tainted, not so much the police themselves.

What did you expect from this op?

Some big,headline grabbing mumsnet campaign?

I still don't get what the Ambassador could do. Tell the Portuguese Government the Brits really want police co-operation? I thought that would be known.

According to the BBC, the children in the other incidents were some 4-7 years older than Madeleine, and none were abducted. So it's not an automatic link up. And of course but one of 53 leads the Met are working on.

I do hope one of the (many) lines of enquiry brings answers.

We have gone to Portugal every year for many years, we were in Praia da Luz a year or two before the McCanns. Horrible things can happen anywhere in the world, as others have pointed out, nowhere is totally safe. On the whole we have found the Portuguese to be generally lovely, family orientated people and love the place.

Feel free to go somewhere else if you want to but that would be your loss

coraltoes, go where you want - there is no way I would go to a hot country (where you might need a window open) to where children are systemmatically abused in holiday apartments and the police turn a blind eye and ignore requests by other police forces to investigate. My children are safe in their beds here, not least because we have locked windows (and it's not that warm), we also have 2 dogs who would attack anyone who dared to break in. Portugal IS a beautiful country, we have been there and seen it for ourselves and the people were just lovely. The police are letting them down, this concealment does not protect it's travel biz, it will endanger it.The best way forward is for the portuguese police and authorities to investigate these things properly - just like every other police force anywhere should be doing.

12 break in's and they are only the ones who have come forward to Scotland yard following a tv appeal, how many children from other countries? How can anyone tell apart from the portuguese police who clearly have been reticent to admit let alone investigate?

to where children are systematically abused in holiday apartments and the police turn a blind eye and ignore requests by other police forces to investigate

Do you think the McCanns are grateful that people use their tragedy to base their conspiracy theories on?

Well I can kind of see your point OP, but where in the world do you live where the authorities are whiter than white?

We continue to holiday in Portugal because we are lucky to get offered the use of a villa. A villa that has a burglar alarm, air conditioning, shuttered windows and lockable windows. That's safer than our house at home.

Just so annoyed, as a kid I suffered abuse and what transpired when I grew up was that adults DID know about this person and could have stopped him. Too often we come up with all these reasons why we can't demand that action is taken, frankly I am sick of it. Authorities seem hamstrung by frigging paperwork, 6 MONTHS and the yard is waiting for a response. What the heck is going on in the meantime? Is another child getting abused? That villa Iwish.. sounds lovely and safe.

Then you need to be angry about the people who knew you were being abused, by a known abuser, in your own community.

It is easier to put it somewhere else. But, they did wrong. And they were English (? scots welsh etc don't want to assume).

This case obviously affects you, personally. I am very sorry for what was done to you.

But. The Met spent 2 DAYS shredding a LORRYLOAD of paperwork about corruption. They told rape victims to go away, and then destroyed the records & evidence. & MORE.

I don't feel I'm in a position to judge, TBH.

bkgirl as victims it is not us who have the power individually to change how systems work.

If you are ANGRY, think about joining orgs that advocate for girls / children / people who have been victims of sexual violence . Think about giving time or money to a charity in a part of the world where abuse is rife. Come and have a lurk on FWR.

Honestly it's so distressing. It's hard t know where to put stuff. Systematic failure to care about / investigate crimes against children / young people was normal. Not OK though.

Are you OK.

I am angry but although my abuser is dead and got off scot free, many of those that ignored it are here and I made damn sure they know what they did. (Unfortunately he got to lots of kids). I find it hard to accept chidren are being let down by indifference, political sensitivities and local economic pressures. Of course I am beyond upset about the destruction of the files and want the people who ordered this to be fully investigated. I do feel I have the right to judge police/ cps inaction or if destruction of files is criminal, it's obvious.

Nicetabard, I do keep in touch with various people nationally who have been through similar, we support each other. :) Sadly I have to keep groups/charities at a distance, it's too much to deal with. Just when you hear stuff like this on the news it's obvious there are good cops at the yard that do want to chase these lowlifes and they are putting it out because they are frustrated. I hope some of the charities you speak of will be able to get this process pushed on immediately.

Unbelievable that those attacks are only coming to light now.
Well done British police detectives.
How come the Missing Madeleine private detectives didn't detect all the (similar) attacks on children in the Algarve area ?
The irresponsibility of the Portugese authorities astound me.
My heart goes out to the Mc Canns and other families who have children missing.