More than 100 unaccompanied migrant children are missing in the UK. Official figures, revealed by the BBC and quoted this morning by the Telegraph newspaper, indicate that children staying in hotels, some as young as 11, disappeared between July and August last year.
In total, from July of last year to August of this year, 181 minors disappeared. However, 65 were found, but the whereabouts of 116 children are still unknown. According to the British Home Office, more than 1,600 migrant children arrived in the UK in one year.
The government’s strategy is to house minors in hotels until a permanent solution is found. Child protection organizations have been calling for a change in this policy, warning that children could fall into the hands of traffickers.
One of these organizations, ECPAT UK, describes the number of missing children as “shocking” and warns about the possible whereabouts of the minors: “They could be working on a cannabis farm, or in a factory, in domestic servitude.”
“There is a whole range of situations of exploitation in which these young people can be”, emphasizes the person in charge, Patricia Durr, also advancing the hypothesis that these children may be being sexually exploited.
The Home Office, for its part, notes that there is an “unprecedented increase in Canal crossings”, but also acknowledges that more needs to be done for these unaccompanied children seeking asylum. According to guardianship, on average minors are referred to a long-term solution within 15 days of arrival at a hotel.
Source: TSF
