Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen correspondent to southern Lebanon: Israeli warplanes launched a raid on the Ksar Zaatar neighborhood in western Nabatieh.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The tower destroyed by the Israeli occupation in Gaza includes media offices, including Al Mayadeen's bureau.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: Four fetuses and three premature babies died at Nasser Medical Complex due to malnutrition
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in the town of Burj Qalawieh, south Lebanon.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: The first ship of the Maghreb fleet delivering aid to break the siege on Gaza departs from the port of Gammarth in Tunisia.
Channel 12: Airspace closed at Ramon Airport due to fears of drone infiltration
IOF Spokesperson: Sirens sounded over an aircraft infiltration in the Bir Ora area, and details are being examined
Drone infiltration sirens sound north of the Gulf of Aqaba
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out five extremely violent raids on the western areas of Gaza City
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out major bombings in the Gaza Strip, the most violent since October 7

New scandal: Children seeking asylum kidnapped from Home Office hotels

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Observer
  • 22 Jan 2023 12:37
  • 2 Shares
3 Min Read

A number of vulnerable child asylum seekers in the UK who do not have parents or caregivers is gone missing.

  • x
  • An investigation has unmasked that children seeking asylum are being kidnapped from Home Office hotels in the UK. (Getty Images)
    An investigation has unmasked that children seeking asylum are being kidnapped in the UK. (Getty Images)

An Observer investigation unmasked that gangs kidnapped dozens of asylum-seeking youngsters from a Home Office-run hostel in Brighton, in a pattern that appears to be repeated across the south coast.

A whistleblower for Home Office contractor Mitie, as well as child protection sources, recalls youngsters being grabbed from the street outside the hotel and rushed into waiting vehicles.

“Children are literally being picked up from outside the building, disappearing, and not being found. They’re being taken from the street by traffickers,” the source reported.

It has also been revealed that police repeatedly informed the Home Office that the hotel's vulnerable tenants - asylum-seeking children who had recently arrived in the UK without parents or carers - would be targeted by criminal networks.

In the last 18 months, over 600 unaccompanied minors have traveled through the Sussex motel, with 136 reported missing. More than half of these, 79, are still missing.

'Truly appalling and scandalous'

Related News

UN says 21,000 Gaza children disabled since war began in 2023

600 Nigerian children dead due to malnutrition amid foreign aid cuts

On her account, Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, defined the revelation as “truly appalling and scandalous," urging the government to reveal how many children had disappeared and what was being done to find them.

She stressed, “Suella Braverman [the home secretary] has failed to act on the repeated warnings she has been given about totally inadequate safeguards for children in their care."

“It is a total dereliction of duty for the Home Office to so badly fail to protect child safety or crack down on the dangerous gangs putting them in terrible risk. Ministers must urgently put new protection arrangements in place,” she added.

The Mitie whistleblower reportedly described seeing children being trafficked from a similar hotel maintained by the Home Office in Hythe, Kent, where 10% of the children disappeared each week.

According to a child protection source, several of the missing children from the Brighton hotel may have been trafficked as far afield as Manchester and Scotland. The Metropolitan Police in London is looking into one case.

Data released in October revealed that 222 unaccompanied asylum-seeking youngsters had gone missing from Home Office-run motels. Ministers stated that they had no idea where they were.

When questioned, Brighton and Hove City Council, which normally cares for child asylum seekers who arrive in the UK without parents or guardians, addressed questions about criminals targeting minors to the police. Inquiries about criminals targeting minors should be directed to the Home Office, according to Sussex police.

Read next: UK deportation to Rwanda could be impeded amid legal battles

  • children
  • Home Office hotel
  • child asylum seekers
  • Ukraine

Most Read

The damaged building in the Katara neighborhood, Doha, Qatar, September 9, 2025 (Social media)

Hamas delegation survives Israeli assassination attempt in Qatar

  • Politics
  • 9 Sep 2025
Pro-"Israel" conservative Charlie Kirk shot during Utah speech

American far-right activist Charlie Kirk shot dead during Utah speech

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025
A screengrab from the ad played on Fox News. (X Screengrab)

Fox airs ad warning Trump not to let Netanyahu 'play' him on Gaza

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Australia warned of deadly climate risks in landmark report
Environment

Millions at risk from rising seas, extreme heat in Australia: Report

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un inspects a new weapons factory in undisclosed location, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, August 31, 2025 (AP)
Politics

DPRK defies US, says nuclear state status 'permanently enshrined'

Soldier F faces trial over bloody Sunday killings after 53 years
Miscellaneous

British Soldier F faces trial over Bloody Sunday killings after 53 yrs

Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate at the University of Sydney to protest the Israel Hamas war, Wednesday, April 24, 2024 (AP)
Politics

Protest outside ABC decries media silence on Gaza journalist killings

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS