'Routine' housing of child asylum seekers in hotels unlawful, High Court rules

The "routine" lodging of unaccompanied kid asylum seekers successful hotels is unlawful, the High Court has ruled.

The foundation Every Child Protected Against Trafficking (ECPAT) brought ineligible enactment against the Home Office implicit the practice.

The High Court said children could beryllium placed successful hotels for "very abbreviated periods successful existent exigency situations" but not "systematically oregon routinely".

The authorities had argued hotels were utilized arsenic a "safety net".

The Home Office and Department for Education had opposed the ineligible challenge, saying the usage of hotels for unaccompanied children was lawful and "a substance of necessity".

More than 4,600 unaccompanied children person been housed successful Home Office hotels since July 2021.

Concerns person been raised aft hundreds of children went missing from these hotels, with charities informing immoderate are being groomed by transgression gangs.

In a ruling connected Thursday, Mr Justice Chamberlain said: "From December 2021 astatine the latest, the signifier of accommodating children successful hotels, extracurricular section authorization care, was some systematic and regular and had go an established portion of the process for dealing with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

"From that constituent on, the location secretary's proviso of edifice accommodation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children exceeded the due limits of her powers and was unlawful."

He besides said Kent County Council was acting unlawfully successful failing to accommodate and look aft unaccompanied kid asylum seekers.

"In ceasing to judge work for immoderate recently arriving unaccompanied asylum seeking children, portion continuing to judge different children into its care, Kent County Council chose to dainty immoderate unaccompanied asylum seeking children otherwise from and little favourably than different children, due to the fact that of their presumption arsenic asylum seekers," helium said.

Following this the Home Office decided to location those children successful hotels connected a impermanent ground portion they waited to beryllium determination to section authorization care.

The situation by ECPAT was heard successful London alongside akin claims brought by Brighton and Hove City Council and Kent County Council.

Brighton and Hove City Council, which has besides seen children spell missing from Home Office hotels successful its area, welcomed the ruling.

Council person Bella Sankey said: "[Home Secretary] Suella Braverman indispensable present urgently enforce this strategy truthful that the hotels tin beryllium emptied and each section authorities tin play their portion successful safeguarding children."

The tribunal heard that earlier this period 154 children remained missing from hotels, including a 12-year-old.

The justice said: "Neither Kent County Council nor the location caput knows wherever these children are, oregon whether they are harmless oregon well.

"There is grounds that immoderate person been persuaded to articulation gangs seeking to exploit them for transgression purposes."

In effect to the ruling, Patricia Durr, main enforcement of ECPAT, said: "It remains a kid extortion ungraded that truthful galore of the astir susceptible children stay missing astatine hazard of important harm arsenic a effect of these unlawful actions by the caput of authorities and Kent County Council."

Earlier this twelvemonth Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told MPs that of 4,600 kid asylum seekers who had arrived successful the UK since 2021, 440 had gone missing and lone fractional had returned.

Asylum seekers are often accommodated successful hotels portion the Home Office decides whether they tin enactment successful the state but this tin beryllium a lengthy process.

The Home Office has said it wants to chopped down connected the usage of costly hotels for asylum seekers and refugees, which costs the state astir £7m a day.