After almost 200 kid asylum seekers went missing, more than 100 groups wrote to Rishi Sunak urging him to stop lodging them in hotels.
The organizations informed the prime minister that children were at risk of exploitation, and one of them referred to the situation as a “child protection scandal.”
They have also demanded an impartial investigation into the issue.
The authorities reported on Tuesday that the majority of the missing minors were Albanian adolescents.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick informed the House of Representatives that 440 of the 4,600 unaccompanied child asylum applicants who had arrived in the United Kingdom since 2021 had vanished and barely half had returned.
He told the MPs that thirteen of the missing are under 16 years old, and one is a girl.
He said he had not seen evidence of the children’s kidnapping but would “not let the topic drop.”
More than 100 refugee and children’s organisations signed ECPAT UK and the Refugee Council’s open letter. Including the NSPCC and Barnardo’s, criticized the government’s “failures to safeguard vulnerable children from harm.”
The letter stated, “There is no legal basis for placing children in Home Office hotel accommodation. And after nearly two years of the scheme’s operation – which is both unlawful and detrimental. It is no longer feasible to defend the use of hotels as ‘temporary.'”
The charity stated that the Home Office had “repeatedly failed” to commit to a termination date for the program.
However, Mr. Jenrick emphasized that a lack of alternative housing prevents him from setting a date.
Cease housing migrant children in hotels
Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, referred to the loss of dozens of refugees as a “child safety scandal.”
He said: “As a result of our work, we are aware that children who have endured unthinkable misery and instability before seeking refuge in our country are profoundly traumatized and vulnerable.
“The government has a clear legal obligation to safeguard them but is failing to do so, as the equivalent of several classrooms of children has simply vanished into the hands of people who will exploit and abuse them.
“This is a child protection scandal that councils, the police, and ministers must address immediately. To ensure that every separated child is valued and protected.”
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, accused ministers of “dereliction of responsibility”. And said that a “criminal network” was involved in removing the children from their housing.
Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, where it is believed that some of the youngsters have vanished, accused the government of “staggering complacency” and compared the situation to the widespread sexual abuse of girls in Rotherham.
The Sussex Police report 137 missing unaccompanied youngsters since the Home Office began housing them in Brighton and Hove hotels.
Brighton refugee groups protested Wednesday night for “urgent action to grant children seeking asylum the safety they deserve.”
The Home Office reports that nearly nine out of ten unaccompanied children staying in hotels certified by the Home Office are Albanian boys claiming to be 16 or 17 years old.
Several, according to police sources, have been trafficked by criminal gangs.
