200 missing person posters have been left outside the Home Office in protest at the number of children who have disappeared from government-funded asylum hotels.
The posters, which read “Missing! 200+ children. Disappeared in Home Office enabled disappearance”, were placed in front of the office on Marsham street, Westminster by the activist group Lesbians and Gays Support The Migrants (LGSMigrants).
The group blamed the government for failing to keep the children safe, saying their disappearance was an “inevitable result of the Hostile Environment”.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told the Commons last week that asylum-seeking children have gone missing from Home Office hotels more than 400 times since July 2021.
He admitted that 200 children are still missing, but said that their cases were being treated in “exactly the same way as any young person who goes missing”.
He added that the government had no power to detain the children but that the police and local authority were being “mobilised” to find missing children.
More than 4,600 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been housed in hotels since July 2021, Mr Jenrick said.
It was revealed over the weekend that children seeking asylum in the UK have been subjected to racist abuse by staff at one government-run hotel.
A whistleblower told The Observer that they “heard staff threatening to throw children out of the window and joking about them going missing.”
Sam Björn, a spokesperson for LGSMigrants, said on Tuesday: “Children have been racially abused and threatened with violence for over a year in Home Office hotels and this government is only now admitting that hundreds of children in their care have gone missing.”
He added: “While officials will try to shrug off responsiblity, we say this government can and must keep migrant children safe. Today we demand an end to the Hostile Environment, safe passage for all asylum seekers and justice for these missing children.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The wellbeing of chidlren in our care is an absolute priority. Robust safeguards are in place to ensure they are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.
“In October, the independent immigration watchdog found young people in hotel accommodation unanimously reported feeling safe, happy and treated with respect.”
