UN experts have warned the UK government that its treatment of unaccompanied asylum seeker children is increasing the risk they could be trafficked and is breaching international law.
A statement from the UN Human Rights Council experts expressed concern about the fate of the missing children and urged the UK government to do more to protect them.
“The UK government appears to be failing to abide by its core obligations under international human rights law to ensure the best interests of the child, without discrimination, and to prevent trafficking of children,” the experts said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The statement, from Siobhán Mullally, special rapporteur on trafficking in persons, Felipe González Morales, special rapporteur on human rights of migrants and Tomoya Obokata, special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, called on the government to end the practice of placing these children in hotels.
“We are deeply concerned at reports that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are going missing and are at high risk of being trafficked within the UK,” the UN experts said.
“The current policy of placing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in hotels places them outside of the UK child protection system and is discriminatory,” the experts said, adding that failures and gaps in child protection heighten risks of trafficking.
Concerns have been raised for some time about asylum seeker children who arrive in the UK alone going missing, many after being accommodated in Home Office hotels.
These concerns increased following an investigation by the Observer in January 2023 which highlighted that dozens of these children had vanished from a hotel in Brighton and Hove. The issue was raised in parliament and immigration minister Robert Jenrick confirmed that as of 23 January 2023 there were 220 missing children.
“The current policy of placing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in hotels places them outside of the UK child protection system and is discriminatory,” the experts said, adding that failures and gaps in child protection heighten risks of trafficking.
They stressed the urgent need to trace the missing children, and to provide human rights compliant reception conditions and protection for unaccompanied children seeking asylum.
They warned of a climate of increasing hostility towards victims of trafficking. New government legislation makes it more difficult for victims of trafficking who come to the UK from other countries to access support.
The experts said they have been in contact with the UK government regarding these concerns.
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. When a child goes missing, a multi-agency, missing persons protocol is mobilised, alongside the police and local authorities, to establish their whereabouts and ensure they are safe.”
