Joint Committee on Human Rights raises concern over asylum-seeking children still missing since 2023

In a wide-ranging report published last week on children in England in the social care system, Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights expressed extreme concern over the fate of 40 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who went missing from asylum hotels and who still remain missing.

The children were among 400 asylum-seeking children went missing from asylum hotels in 2023. Under the previous Conservative government, seven hotels were used to accommodate unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. They were closed in 2024 after the High Court held that their use for permanent or long-term housing was unlawful.

According to evidence given to the Committee in June of this year by Helen Waite, the Director of Children's Social Care at the Department for Education, 472 children went missing during the period in which hotels were used. Of these, 432 had since been located, leaving 40 unlocated. Two of those are still aged under 18, she said.

The Committee welcomed the fact that most of the missing children had been found but said it remained "extremely concerned" about those still missing.

It recommended that the Government regularly publish information about the missing children until all have been found and explain what action is being taken to locate them. The report also called for the Home Office to provide the Committee with updates every three months.

The Committee's report stressed: "The duty on local authorities to provide support and accommodation to children in need in their area, imposed by the Children Act 1989, extends to asylum-seeking children, and requires that children be provided with accommodation that suits their needs. Hotels must not be used to house unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and we welcome the government's commitment to not place children in such accommodation."

Last November, the child rights organisation ECPAT UK published a 24-page report on trafficked and unaccompanied children going missing from care in the UK. It noted that around 9% of all children in care in England are unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, with many more affected by immigration issues.

ECPAT UK's research found that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and trafficked children "are at very high risk of going missing from care". It noted: "This research revealed that an alarmingly high number of these children were going missing from care, with some never found. Data from 2014 to 2020 found that over one in four trafficked children and one in ten unaccompanied children go missing from care, highlighting continuing risks and systemic failures in protecting these children."

According to ECPAT UK , more than 2,000 trafficked and/or unaccompanied children went missing from care in the UK in 2024.

Laura Duran, Head of Policy of ECPAT UK, commented: "These children are not just statistics—they are individuals who have already endured unimaginable trauma. When they go missing from care, they are at extreme risk of further exploitation. The UK Government must ensure that the policies they are proposing do not exacerbate these risks and should instead focus on bringing effective safeguarding measures to protect children for harm."