They are disappearing at a rate of one a week, according to figures obtained by the Independent and other organisations, and the whereabouts of dozens of vulnerable teenagers is unknown. An open letter signed by 60 charities and campaigners said children as young as 11 had gone missing, adding: “Our concern for these children cannot be overstated. “Already vulnerable, separated and traumatized, isolated from family support networks, they are at greatest risk of exploitation and trafficking. “Some may have already been trafficked and are at significant risk of re-trafficking. They need – and are entitled to – care in supportive foster or residential homes, with skilled professionals to help them recover safely.” A freedom of information request by the charity Every Child Protected Against Trafficking (Ecpat) showed that 45 unaccompanied child asylum seekers disappeared from hotels between last June and the end of March, while a separate request by The Independent showed that the number was 16 from July and November last year. The Home Office dramatically increased the use of hotels as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers at the start of the Covid pandemic and again for the influx of refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine. By the end of June, 355 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children aged 11 to 18 were being held in hotels. The open letter, written by Ecpat and Children England and signed by groups including the Refugee Council and Asylum Aid, called the arrangements an “unofficial shadow system in which children, the evidence now shows, can disappear from sight their”. “Action is urgently needed,” he added. “The use of Home Office hotel accommodation must stop and central government must invest in proper childcare so that local authorities can accept and support every child who arrives on our shores without a parent or guardian as defined by the law”. The number of people crossing the English Channel in small boats this year exceeds 18,000 It comes after a report by the UN Refugee Agency and the British Red Cross warned that long delays in asylum decisions are forcing people to “accept job offers in unsafe and exploitative conditions”. It found evidence that “visible, large-scale accommodation in hostels, hotels and multi-occupancy houses are being targeted by traffickers”. The Home Affairs Committee also expressed concern in a recent report which said “urgent action” was needed to prevent exploitation and that increasing waits for government decisions – around 550 days on average for children’s asylum applications – was a “key factor driving his decisions for asylum seekers to leave a life in limbo acting for themselves’. Diana Johnson called for more to be done (PA) Addressing parliament last month, committee chair Dame Diana Johnson said: “The practice of placing unaccompanied children in hotels has resulted in an unknown number of children disappearing either temporarily or, in some cases, permanently. “We urge the government to urgently confirm who is responsible for protecting these children and tell us what they are doing to prevent children, alone and potentially vulnerable, simply disappearing from sight into unknown hands and an unknown future.” A separate report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration found that failures to process migrants arriving in small boats meant that children and victims of trafficking were not always correctly identified and given the right support. Minister Tom Persglove said asylum-seeking children are being ‘treated’ (screen grab) “The flight of migrants, vulnerable and others, remained an issue in early 2022,” he added. A 2021 report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons found that some child asylum seekers had been mistakenly sent to adult detention facilities. She also said that social worker interviews were not always carried out and children were sent to the accommodation by taxi alone. The Home Office ordered councils to join a previously voluntary scheme to offer care places across the country after Kent County Council said it no longer had the capacity to care for them, but said hotels were still being used “out of need” on a temporary basis. In response to a parliamentary question in June, minister Tom Pursglove said unaccompanied children seeking asylum spent an average of 15.5 days in hotels before moving on and were “cared for, including by nursing professionals, social workers and nurses”. He added that the Home Office has exclusive use of the hotels used by single children and that no other guests can stay there. A government spokesman said: “Due to the continued and significant increase in migrant arrivals using dangerous and unsafe methods to enter the UK, we are experiencing unprecedented levels of demand for hotel accommodation for unaccompanied children seeking asylum. “Any child who goes missing is extremely serious, which is why we work closely with local authorities and the police to implement strong missing persons protocols to ensure they are known and safe. “We are working to ensure that vulnerable children are provided with appropriate places for their needs.”
