- Forty children who went missing from hotels housing asylum seekers in the UK have still not been found, according to a parliamentary report.
- The Joint Committee on Human Rights published a report confirming that 40 of the cohort of missing children have still not been found.
- Ministers are facing calls from MPs and peers to explain what they are doing to locate the group, two of whom are believed to still be under 18.
- In June, a director of children’s social care at the Department for Education stated that 472 children had gone missing in total and 432 had since been located.
- The High Court ruled in 2023 that the Home Office’s routine use of hotels to house lone child asylum seekers was unlawful.
- The committee called on the Home Office to make clear what specific action is being taken to locate these children and to provide updates every three months.
- In 2023, it was revealed that more than 440 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children had gone missing from Home Office hotel sites, with some reported to be as young as 12.
- The committee expressed extreme concern about the fact that some children who went missing from asylum hotels in previous years remain missing.
- A government spokesperson stated that police forces are responsible for investigating missing children cases and that they continue to review their records.
- Dame Rachel de Souza, England’s Children’s Commissioner, shared the report’s “serious concern” regarding the missing youngsters, emphasizing the need for action.
Forty children who went missing from UK asylum hotels have yet to be located, according to a parliamentary report released by the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR). The report indicates that 472 children have gone missing in total, with 432 subsequently found, leaving 40 still unaccounted for.124
The report highlights systemic failures in the social care system, particularly regarding unaccompanied minors. Helen Waite, a director at the Department for Education, noted that some children were as young as 12 when they disappeared. The JCHR expressed concern over the missing children, stating, “We continue to be extremely concerned about the fact that some children who went missing from asylum hotels in previous years remain missing.”
The committee has urged the Home Office to clarify its actions to locate these children and to investigate the reasons behind their disappearances. They have requested updates every three months on the search efforts. Patricia Durr, chief executive of Every Child Protected Against Trafficking UK, emphasized the need for transparency, calling the situation a “significant child protection failure.”
In 2023, the High Court ruled that the Home Office's practice of housing lone child asylum seekers in hotels was unlawful. A government spokesperson stated that police forces are responsible for investigating missing children cases and that they are working closely with local authorities to support these investigations.59
The JCHR report underscores the urgent need for action to prevent further disappearances of vulnerable children from asylum hotels.
“The Joint Committee on Human Rights report, published Thursday, also revealed that two of the missing are still under 18. The committee has asked the Home Office to provide quarterly updates on efforts to locate the children, who may have been trafficked or exploited.”
The Guardian
The Independent
