Asylum-seeker hotels for children 'a supermarket for gangs'

Hundreds of children who arrived successful the UK and were enactment up successful hotels person gone missing since July 2021. The BBC has spoken to 1 constabulary unit astir however galore lone teenage asylum seekers it has since recovered and wherever they are turning up.

Early past year, Sussex Police began to announcement a dependable summation successful missing-children reports coming from a edifice providing impermanent accommodation for young asylum seekers successful Hove. By June, the fig reported by the edifice - which has much than 50 bedrooms and is conscionable a two-minute locomotion from the seafront - was successful treble figures.

"Forty-eight missing children were reported from that determination successful August alone," says Det Supt Kris Ottery.

The unit acceptable up a peculiar portion and to day it has recovered 68 children who had disappeared from the hotel.

The bulk were discovered with radical known to the individuals, usually family. But immoderate were identified aft being arrested for crimes, including supplying drugs. Eight were recovered successful situations successful which they could beryllium exploited. One had fled a car wash.

Sussex Police proceed to hunt for 69 different children reported missing from the hotel.

What happened to the 200 migrant children who went missing from hotels successful the UK? Listen to File connected 4: Missing migrant children connected BBC Sounds

Teenager Aaron (not his existent name) is primitively from Eritrea and arrived successful the UK successful January 2022. He was placed successful a London edifice utilized by the Home Office to temporarily location lone asylum seekers aged implicit 18 (like him) and families. By May, helium had been groomed by a section cause gang, which helium told the BBC exploited his vulnerability to lure him into crime.

"They saw maine looking mediocre and said, 'Hey, fto maine get you immoderate caller shoes'. They were calling to cheque however I'm doing, being with maine connected my pugnacious moments. They became similar friends," Aaron says.

"But abruptly they said, 'Listen, this is what we bash - if you privation to unrecorded similar us, you request to merchantability drugs arsenic well.'"

After 5 months successful the gang, selling heroin and cocaine, Aaron managed to get out. He was frightened of being caught by the constabulary and struggling with the unit pack members inflicted connected those who were precocious with payments.

Aaron says helium often inactive sees the aforesaid pack members hanging astir the edifice trying to enlistee much teenagers. He says helium has heard of children arsenic young arsenic 14 being approached.

"I escaped my state due to the fact that of the unit and the brutal killings, truthful I don't privation kids to beryllium exposed to that present arsenic well," helium says. "We came present for freedom, not for joining gangs and causing unit to people."

The Home Office says the immense bulk (88%) of the children who person gone missing are Albanian nationals.

Foster carer John Stokes has raised 2 Albanian teenage boys and works with assemblage younker groups and charities. He says these disappearances are organised - planned by criminals who groom the children some earlier and during their travel to the UK.

"They travel them to the edifice and past prime them up, instrumentality them. They volition usage them for immoderate they request and a definite magnitude of them volition usage them for amerciable means," helium says.

Mr Stokes believes susceptible young asylum seekers are being enactment astatine risk.

"They don't privation to beryllium criminals. They are forced into it. The hotels are astir similar opening a supermarket for gangs. You're putting youngsters connected display."

The Home Office said it was "determined to halt the usage of hotels for each minors". In a connection to the BBC, it said: "The wellbeing of children and minors successful our attraction is an implicit priority.

"Robust safeguarding and payment measures are successful spot astatine each impermanent hotels to guarantee children are safe, unafraid and supported arsenic we urgently question placements with a section authority."

Trying to way down a missing idiosyncratic astir whom precise small is known is challenging and the ample numbers of young asylum seekers going missing from impermanent accommodation portion they hold for a spot successful attraction has prompted Sussex Police to rethink their approach.

The unit present gathers cardinal accusation astir each of the children arriving astatine the edifice to springiness them a amended accidental of uncovering them successful the lawsuit that they were to disappear.

"The enactment astir starts earlier radical spell missing," Det Supt Ottery says. "It's ever bully to beryllium arsenic prepared arsenic we tin and marque definite that we're disconnected to the champion imaginable start."