Dozens of young asylum seekers who disappeared while being housed in UK government-run hotels remain missing years later, according to a parliamentary human rights report released on Thursday.
The report found that 472 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children disappeared from Home Office accommodation in 2023, with some of those missing aged just 12. Helen Waite, Director of Children’s Social Care at the Department for Education, told the committee that 432 have subsequently been located, leaving 40 whose whereabouts remain unknown. Most of the missing individuals have since reached adulthood, although two are still children.
Parliament’s human rights committee said it “welcomed” the recovery of the majority but remained “extremely concerned” about those who have not been found. It has called on the Home Office to explain what action is being taken to trace them and requested progress reports every three months.
Concerns are particularly acute because some of the children who eventually resurfaced were found in dangerous circumstances. Angela Eagle, who was serving as border security and asylum minister when she gave evidence to the committee last year, said some had been “located in exploitative situations and may have been trafficked.”
England’s Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza described the episode as an “unacceptable failure,” arguing that authorities have a duty to protect children arriving alone in Britain. “Every child arriving in this country has the right to safely apply for asylum and to be provided with shelter and support while they do so,” she said, while calling for safeguards to prevent further disappearances.
The missing-child controversy dates to a period when Britain was heavily reliant on hotels to accommodate asylum seekers. At the system’s peak in June 2023, more than 51,000 asylum seekers were reportedly living across more than 400 Home Office hotels. Rights organisations repeatedly warned that hotel accommodation was inappropriate for unaccompanied children. The High Court subsequently ruled in 2024 that the practice of routinely placing such minors in hotels was unlawful, and the dedicated arrangements were shut down.
The findings emerge as immigration remains one of Britain’s most politically divisive issues. Continuing small-boat crossings of the English Channel, protests surrounding asylum accommodation, crimes involving some migrants and renewed controversy over historic grooming gangs have kept immigration and border enforcement near the centre of political debate.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to halt small-boat crossings but has not committed his government to a specific deadline. Migration pressures are also being felt elsewhere in Europe, particularly following the recent mass arrival of migrants in Spain’s Ceuta enclave, where reception services have struggled to accommodate large numbers of unaccompanied minors.
