UK Government Responds to Criticism on Handling of Missing Child Migrants : NY Times

 The UK government came under severe criticism this week following reports in the Observer that some 136 unaccompanied children were missing from a hotel in Sussex.  The government's response was that, in fact, some 440 child asylum seekers are missing, but half have later been accounted for.  Most are teenagers, but 13 are under 16 and one is female.   

More than 100 charities called for the government to take action on the missing minors, saying that the government had a legal duty to protect them. The chief of the Refugee Council said the children were highly traumatized and vulnerable.“We know from our work that children who have experienced unimaginable horror and upheaval coming to our country in search of safety are highly traumatized and vulnerable,” he said, adding: “This is a child protection scandal that councils the police and ministers must urgently address to ensure every single separated child matters and is kept safe.”

The UK has used hotels to house asylum seekers since July 2021, due to a lack of alternative accommodation.  Rights groups have criticized the conditions in the hotels, especially since slow processing of asylum applications have meant that children are detained there for increasing periods of time.  

Read the full article in the NYTimes