CNN
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Britain’s Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick on Tuesday told MPs in parliament as he called for an inquiry into the matter, saying the British government was not allowing minors to stay in hotels due to the strain on the country’s asylum accommodation system. Hundreds of child asylum seekers have reportedly gone missing since it began.
About 200 children have gone missing since July 2021, Jenrik said on Tuesday.
About 13 of the 200 missing children are under the age of 16 and one is a woman, according to government data. The majority of those missing, 88% of her, are Albanian, while the remaining 12% of her are from Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Vietnam, Pakistan and Turkey.
Jenrik said as of July 2021 the government had been left with “no alternatives” other than using “special hotels” to accommodate minors. He blamed the problem on an increase in the number of migrant ships crossing.
Hotel contract use was envisioned as a temporary solution, but reports from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration indicated that as of October, four hotels were still operating, with more than 200 rooms. are designated child immigrants.
British charities and migrant rights groups have long complained that the country’s asylum system is overwhelmed and underfunded.
The number of asylum applications processed in the UK has collapsed in recent years, confined to processing facilities and makeshift hotels, unable to work, leaving people vague for months and years, wondering about the UK’s borders. It is fueling the esoteric discussion of
The missing migrant children were first reported by British media on Saturday, with the Observer newspaper reporting that “dozens” of asylum-seeking people were found at a hotel run by the British Home Office in Brighton, southern England. It reported that the children had been kidnapped by “gangsters”.
Since then, calls for urgent action by the opposition Labor Party, the human rights group Refugee Council, and local authorities have raised calls for an urgent investigation into the matter.
The Home Office said these reports were not true, and a Home Office spokesperson said in a statement to CNN:
The spokesperson added that “robust protection procedures” are in place and that “when a child goes missing, local authorities work closely with agencies, including the police, to locate them urgently.” rice field.
While the UK government does not have the power to detain unaccompanied minors and they are free to leave the hotel, Mr Jenric has defended the Home Office’s protective practices and said that no record of children leaving or leaving the hotel would be allowed. said to be in custody, monitored, and supported by support workers. Hands for taking children off site with activities and social excursions.
“Many of those who went missing have since been traced and found,” Jenrik told parliament.
Opposition Labor Party Home Secretary Yvette Cooper denounced the traffickers in a response to parliament, stating that “children were literally picked up from outside buildings, disappeared and never found. They were on the streets by traffickers. has been taken away from
Cooper said “urgent and serious action” was needed to crack down on gangs to keep children and young people safe.
“Greater Manchester Police are aware of warnings that asylum hotels and orphanages have been targeted by organized criminals, and in this case, where gangs are taking children There is a pattern here of knowing what to do, and in many cases, it is likely that children were trafficked here in the first place,” she added. “There is a criminal network involved. We haven’t been able to stop them completely.”
On Monday, British charity Refugee Action said: “It is scandalous that children who have come to this country to seek safety are being harmed. Ultimate responsibility lies with the Home Secretary, based on hostility rather than sympathy.” It is her decision to run the asylum system in full force,” they added.
The Refugee Council, a British charity, said that “more than 200 people have gone missing and are deeply concerned with the practice of housing separated children in unregulated Home Office accommodation and putting them at risk of harm.” I am concerned,” he tweeted.
