104 Response Accepted AI-assessed

High risk countries list for travel orders

Recommendation

The Home Office should bring forward legislation providing for the establishment and maintenance by the National Crime Agency of a list of countries where children are considered to be at high risk of sexual abuse and exploitation from overseas offenders. This list should be kept under regular review. The list of countries should be made available to the police, and used routinely to help identify whether a person who has been charged with sexual offences against a child poses a risk to children overseas based on their travel history and/or plans. If the person is considered to pose a risk of sexual harm to children overseas, the police should submit an application for a foreign travel restriction order under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The list of countries should be admissible in court and used when considering whether a foreign travel restriction order should be made under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and if so, to which countries it should apply.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the Home Office's commitment in January 2021, legislation would be brought forward to establish and maintain a list of high-risk countries for child sexual abuse from overseas offenders, with the National Crime Agency commissioned to produce this list. According to available information, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was identified as the legislative vehicle in February 2022, but no further published evidence on the establishment and routine use of this list has been identified since February 2022.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Section Reference
J
Response
Accepted
Accepted UK Government
22 May 2023

On 21 January 2021, the Home Office confirmed that it would bring forward the necessary legislation to give effect to this recommendation when parliamentary time allows. The Home Office stated that it had commissioned the National Crime Agency to produce a list of countries where children overseas are considered to be at high risk of sexual abuse and exploitation from UK nationals and residents. On 28 February 2022, the Home Office stated that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill would confer a power on the Secretary of State to prepare (or direct a relevant person, such as the National Crime Agency, to prepare) a list of countries deemed to be at 'high risk' of child sexual abuse by UK nationals. This list would be considered by applicants and the courts when applying for – or making – a Sexual Harm Prevention Order or Sexual Risk Order, for the purpose of protecting children outside the UK from the risk of sexual harm from a UK national. On 28 April 2022, the Bill received Royal Assent, and sections 172 and 173 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 reflect these changes.

Read Full Response
Source
Inquiry IICSA
Report Children Outside the United Kingdom Phase 2 Investigation Report 30 Jan 2020
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Home Office Primary
Themes & Tags
Child exploitation criminalisation International displacement strategy International High Risk Countries Travel Restrictions
Recommendation age 6.1 yrs
Last formal update 1037 days ago