Dozens of asylum-seeking children are still missing from UK Home Office hotels, many of whom are likely to have been trafficked, a new report has found.
The latest figures show 118 unaccompanied children remain missing, some as young as 12. The study, published on Wednesday, is the first to conclude that children held in hotels are at “enhanced risk of trafficking”, contradicting the Home Office’s claims that young people are not being exploited.
Experts said the findings strengthened calls for an official investigation into the “national scandal”.
University College London (UCL) and Ekpat UK, The investigation was commissioned after it emerged last year that dozens of asylum-seeking children were abducted by criminal gangs from hotels run by the Home Office. Basic Checks Measures to keep young people safe were not implemented and this is seen as one of the most shameful scandals of the previous administration.
The new report details interviews with professionals involved in the care of the children, including a former Home Office hotel employee who knew three of the children. Human trafficking cases They say traffickers contacted the young people from their hotel. [social media] Account or Facebook… [It] It’s not that they’re naive, but when they find themselves in a bad situation like this, they think, ‘There’s a risk, but this place is bad too.'”
The researchers found that the Home Office’s attempts to protect children were actually putting them into the hands of criminals: hotel staff had been instructed to knock on doors every hour throughout the night, particularly for children of nationalities considered at high risk of going missing, such as Albanians.
“The irony is, [this was] “That’s why most of the children went missing,” said a former Interior Ministry hotel worker.
The Home Office ran seven hotels to house minors – many from Africa, including Eritrea and Sudan – who arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel in small boats. These hotels remained open from 2021 to January 2024 after a High Court ruling found them unlawful.
A total of 440 children were reported missing, with 144 still unidentified by November last year and 118 still missing as of March. Latest updates.
“This is a scandal of national proportions that must never be repeated,” said Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, lead author and principal researcher of the report’s Risk and Disaster Reduction department at University College London (UCL). “It is still unclear what efforts have been made to locate the missing and ensure their safety.”
Patricia Darr, chief executive of Ekpat UK, added: “This investigation confirms our concerns and highlights the need for urgent action to find the missing children and a statutory independent investigation to ensure this child protection scandal never happens again.”
One social worker told researchers that boys from Albania feel “very vulnerable and very scared” because of the “targeted campaign” against them and fears they may soon be sent home.
Although the children’s hotels have now been closed, researchers also uncovered serious concerns that young asylum-seeking people were being wrongly identified as over 18 and placed in adult hotels where they were at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation. Several child protection experts pointed to safety risks for children being forced to share rooms with traumatized adults.
Ayeb-Karlsson added: “Children who have been wrongly classified as adults are being denied their rights to education, protection and safety.”
Dua called on the new government to repeal “catastrophic” illegal immigration laws that allow the Home Office to provide accommodation directly to unaccompanied children.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The allegations in this report are extremely serious. Unaccompanied children in the asylum system can be extremely vulnerable and their welfare and safety should be a central concern. We will consider these findings carefully.”
“The new government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates quickly, reliably and fairly, and the rules are properly enforced.”
