A Cardiff MP is calling for action amid claims people have been forced to pay tens of thousands of pounds to free African relatives from kidnappers.

Cardiff West MP Kevin Brennan met an Eritrean man who settled in the city and whose nephew was held by tribesmen.

Church group Evangelical Alliance Wales says £70,000 in ransom money has been paid in eight cases connected to Wales.

The Foreign Office said it has not had substantiated reports of UK residents being targeted to pay ransoms.

The United Nations estimates that 36,000 Eritreans left the east African country last year, many heading to Israel and Egypt to flee poverty and other problems.

It has described the growth of the kidnap and people trafficking in Sinai, Egypt, as one of the most unreported humanitarian crises in the world.

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