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
Sayyed Ali Khamenei: The model Trump is presenting to Arab countries is absolutely a failed one
The leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran Sayyed Ali Khamenei: Trump's remarks source of shame, embarrassment for him, Americans
Al-Zaidi to Al Mayadeen: There is a pressing need to restructure the regional landscape, a challenge facing the Baghdad Summit, and we hope it will succeed in doing so
Al-Zaidi to Al Mayadeen: Among the urgent issues on the summit’s agenda are ending the war in Palestine and addressing the complex situation in Syria
Al-Zaidi to Al Mayadeen: We hope the summit will yield reasoned solutions that serve the interests of regional stability
Al-Zaidi to Al Mayadeen: We hope that the summit will be an opportunity to achieve the long-awaited breakthrough in all regional issues
Iraqi presidential spokesperson Abdullah al-Zaidi to Al Mayadeen: The significance of the summit stems from the critical timing under which it is being convened
Yemeni Ministry of Health: The Zionist aggression on the ports of Hodeidah and Salif in western Yemen has killed one and injured 11
Yemenia Airways flights to and from Sanaa International Airport resumed, following the return of 134 passengers from Queen Alia Airport in Jordan
Russia's Putin invites league of Arab states, secretary general to take part in 1st Russian-Arab summit in October: Kremlin

UK Home Office abandons potentially trafficked children: The Guardian

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Guardian
  • 8 May 2024 14:54
4 Min Read

Data has revealed that the UK Home Office has neglected, suspended, and dismissed trafficking cases, leaving children vulnerable to exploitation.

  • x
  • UK Home Office photographed in an undated picture (AFP)
    UK Home Office photographed in an undated picture. (AFP)

The United Kingdom's Home Office has abandoned hundreds of potentially trafficked children, leaving them vulnerable and susceptible to exploitation, The Guardian revealed.

Data derived from a Freedom of Information request revealed that 1,871 children were identified as possible victims of trafficking following the Home Office's decision to drop them out of the system when they turned 18. 

In the UK, to get government support as a minor, a National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is required to assess the situation and provide governmental assistance. Data showed that almost 50% of victims who had been in the system, were abandoned at 18.

Moreover, figures showed that out of 2,634 children who turned 18 while waiting to be identified as victims, 70% completely vanished from the NRM. Almost half of the cases were dissolved by the government under claims that no consent was given to resume the process of victim identification, while the remaining 20% voluntarily withdrew from the system. 

However, The Guardian revealed that many children enrolled in the system were not aware that they needed to consent to resume the process after they turned 18, or that they had been enrolled in it. 

A wake-up call

Anti-trafficking organizations urged the immediate implementation of systematic reforms to protect the children. 

Related News

Palestinian student stripped of visa for Gaza speech wins appeal vs UK

Over 360 unaccompanied children held in France-UK border facilities

Eleonora Fais, the coordinator of the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group, a coalition of 17 UK-based anti-trafficking organizations, said “This data is a wake-up call. We urgently need to improve our services, so that children can receive the support they need.”

Patricia Durr, the chief executive of the children’s rights charity ECPAT UK, described the data as alarming, adding that “The findings underscore the urgent need for systematic reforms to ensure that young victims of trafficking are not left vulnerable and unsupported as they transition into adulthood.”

The proposed reforms involve implementing independent guardians for child trafficking across all councils in England and Wales, who would serve as advocates for young individuals. The most recent data indicates that only 6% of children exiting the NRM at the age of 18 received support through the government's modern slavery victim care contract, which aims to assist victims. 

Rachel Medina, the CEO of the Snowdrop Project, a charity in Sheffield offering lasting aid to modern slavery survivors, voiced concern. The charity, which submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, highlighted that numerous children are slipping through the cracks in the systems designed to safeguard and assist victims of modern slavery, urging the government to take immediate action. 

The Home Office's consistent negligence

An Observer investigation published in January last year 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.

  • Home Office
  • United Kingdom
  • Child trafficking

Most Read

Two F-35 jets arrive at it's new operational base Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, at Hill Air Force Base, in northern Utah. (AP)

F-35 near-misses over Yemen signal new risks for 'Israel': Forbes

  • Politics
  • 14 May 2025
Palestinians pray over bodies of people killed in the Israeli bombardment who were brought from the Shifa hospital before burying them in a mass grave in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP )

Gaza casualty figures mask a much bigger horror, new study shows

  • Politics
  • 11 May 2025
Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

  • Politics
  • 15 May 2025
Abu Obaida

Abu Obeida posts shortly after Israeli reports about his assassination

  • Palestine
  • 15 May 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza prevails against genocide

Read Next

All
Israeli media: Yemen may push 'Israel' towards ceasefire in Gaza
MENA

Israeli media: Yemen may push 'Israel' towards ceasefire in Gaza

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Friday, May 16, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Trump administration planning to send 1 million Palestinians to Libya

President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
Politics

'Israel' concerned, says US withholding info about indirect Iran talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the annual ceremony at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in occupied al-Quds on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu cancels Vatican visit over fears of ICC arrest

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