The study said the government had "turned a blind eye" to child sex offenders who travel or work abroad, placing thousands of children at risk, with "repeat offenders travelling from country to country and flagrantly avoiding the stringent sex offender mechanisms in the UK".
Britain has prosecuted only five sex offenders for child sexual abuse abroad since 1997, and none since 2005. The US has prosecuted more than 50, and Australia more than 25. But the report, by Ecpat UK, a coalition of children's charities, pointed out that Britons figure prominently in international child abuse statistics, with at least 15 British nationals charged in Thailand over the past two years for the sexual abuse of children, and others prosecuted in India, Ghana, Cambodia and Albania.