Dozens of children who have gone missing from Home Office hotels housing migrants are likely to have been trafficked, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The study, conducted by University College London (UCL) and Every Child Protected Against Trafficking UK (ECPAT), is the first to have found that minors placed in the hotels were at “increased risk of trafficking.”
This contradicts previous Home Office claims that the children had not been exploited.
Between 2021 and January of this year, 440 children went missing with 144 who still had not been found by November of last year, including a 12-year-old boy.
The child hotels were closed down at the start of 2024 after the High Court ruled them unlawful, following legal action by ECPAT, but at least 118 children were still unaccounted for in March, according to the report.
The report also expressed concerns that children were being misidentified as adults, which was leaving them even more vulnerable to potential exploitation.
Researchers also found that Albanian boys were particularly vulnerable, making up a large proportion of those children who went missing from hotels, reportedly because they particularly feared being sent back to their home country.
‘A National Scandal’
The lead author of the report and principal investigator at UCL’s department of risk and disaster reduction, Dr. Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson labelled the situation a “national scandal.”She said: “It is still not clear if the children who disappeared have been found, nor what attempts have been made to find those who remain missing and make sure that they are safe. Adding to this, children who are incorrectly determined as adults are deprived of their rights to education, protection and safeguarding as well as not to be detained, or deported according to domestic law.
“Once placed in adult hotels, the risks posed to their welfare are even more serious than those that existed in the child hotels–the additional risk factors include having to share rooms with highly traumatised and sometimes suicidal adults. These vulnerable children may be taken advantage of, including for sexual or criminal purposes by people sharing a room with them and also by staff members. No young person should be put in an adult hotel if there is any uncertainty about whether they are below 18.”
‘Swiftly, Firmly and Fairly’
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The allegations in this report are very 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.“A new Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly, and ensures the rules are properly enforced.”
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will establish the new Home Office unit, using counter-terror powers to fight organised immigration crime, documents detailing the plans stated.
However there was no mention in the King’s Speech of repealing the Illegal Migration Act, Ms. Durr called for following the report’s publication.
So far, more than 1,000 migrants have crossed the Channel illegally since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister on July 5 and the Government has warned of a “difficult summer ahead.”
