Theresa May unveils plans for new Kenya cyber centre to track down British paedophiles
2 min read
Theresa May has pledged to build a new cyber centre in Nairobi in a bid to help Kenyan police track down British paedophiles online.
The facility in Nairobi will help authorities fight the sharing of child abuse images on the web, assist efforts to identify potential victims and help in reaching data from tech firms to catch offenders.
The project builds on Kenya's existing anti-people trafficking and child protection unit, which was set up in 2016 with help from the UK's National Crime Agency.
It has so far helped protect almost 500 children since March that year and secure convictions of UK child sex abusers in the country, Downing Street said.
The Prime Minister is on the final leg of a three-country tour, which has seen her visit South Africa and Nigeria in a bid to bolster ties ahead of Brexit.
Ahead of her visit to Nairobi, the Prime Minister said of the new pact: “Online child exploitation is an abhorrent crime and we are determined to ensure there is no place to hide for predators who use the internet to share images of abuse across borders, too often with impunity.”
“This builds on our ongoing work with Kenya on security and criminal justice – a partnership which has already helped to convict and imprison terrorists in the UK.”
The UK will also offer support to the country’s police in dealing with violence against girls and women, and legal expertise on fighting organised crime and complex terror cases.
Airport security also features within the agreement, including machines to detect explosives.
She is due to meet president Uhuru Kenyatta later today and see British soldiers who are training troops from African countries fighting in Somalia.
Mrs May’s visit to Kenya will make her the first British Prime Minister to visit the country since Margaret Thatcher in 1988.
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