Protesters in Brighton have shown support for the council’s plan to launch legal action against the Home Office for reopening a hotel where more than 100 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children went missing.
More than 100 people gathered outside Brighton Town Hall on Tuesday to oppose the move, with campaigners hoping that Brighton and Hove City Council’s bid could lead to action across the country to also stop it happening anywhere else.
Sussex Police have confirmed 139 young people went missing from Hove since July 2021 and 90 children have been found.
Brighton and Hove City Council leader councillor Bella Sankey said last week that the Home Office informed the council of plans to reopen the hotel despite 50 children “still unaccounted for”.
The former director of refugee charity Detention Action said: “We believe this is reckless and unlawful, and we are pressing ahead with urgent legal action to try and stop this from happening.”
Social worker and Homes Not Hotels campaigner Lauren Starkey shared some of the experiences working with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Speaking at the protest, she told PA news agency: “We have seen real concerns about children being in hotels that they said are really neglectful conditions.
“Not having enough food, not understanding who is to care for them, being unable to access proper healthcare.”
Ms Starkey also explained the Government messaging about sending asylum seekers to Rwanda and return deals with other countries makes them fearful of being sent back to countries they fled, and more likely to trust “unknown adults” approaching them and become vulnerable to traffickers.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Due to the rise in dangerous small boats crossings, the Government has had no alternative but to urgently use hotels to give unaccompanied asylum-seeking children arriving in the UK a roof over their heads.
“The wellbeing of children and minors in our care is an absolute priority, and there is 24/7 security at every hotel used to accommodate them.”
It is understood the borders and immigration watchdog found in October last year that young people in accommodation reported feeling safe, happy and treated with respect.
Campaign group Home Not Hotels is demanding the Home Office treats unaccompanied asylum-seeking children the same way as other children in need of protection, and provide funding needed for councils to carry out their duties.
The group is also demanding if the hotel is to reopen that Brighton and Hove City Council ensure no child is able to stay in the hotel for longer than 24 hours.
Among those attending the event, Alison Bell, 60, from group Lewes Organisation in Support of Refugees and Asylum Seekers, said: “We wouldn’t put our children in those hotels … those children went missing, I can’t believe it’s all happening again.”
Homes Not Hotels member Hermione Berendt, who also volunteers for refugee charity Care4Calais, said: “The evidence is there, leaving these children in limbo in hotels, without adequate support and protection, puts them at risk.
“The Government needs to abandon this plan, but if they don’t then Brighton and Hove Council needs to step up and start a legal challenge against it.”
Across Sussex, a total of 227 children have been reported missing in Hove and Eastbourne since July 2021, and 141 have been found.
Sussex Police has a unit within its missing persons team to focus on finding missing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and is continuing to work with the Home Office.
In data on children found, first seen by the Brighton Argus newspaper, Sussex Police said 15 had been arrested for a variety of offences across the country including cannabis cultivation and theft.
A Sussex Police spokesperson said: “When people go missing, our primary role is to investigate the circumstances including assessing if they are vulnerable or could have been a victim of crime.
“Once a person is located, where criminality is associated with either the initial disappearance or subsequent harbouring of those wishing to remain missing, Sussex Police will assess and take positive action as appropriate.”
