56 unaccompanied refugee children disappeared from shelters

Most children are Albanian. The other two nationalities with the most missing children are Afghanistan and Iran.

In England, people seeking asylum are housed in hotels until their case is assessed.. Until December 2023, the practice was the same for unaccompanied minors.

Court decision changed rules for children. With the frequent cases of disappearances, a judge ordered that unaccompanied minors be given shelter in reception centers.

Even so, since the decision, 44 children have disappeared from these centers. To this day, 10 of them have not yet been found.

Kent County Council said it takes disappearances seriously. Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, a spokesperson for the agency stated that “unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation” and that all children undergo assessment by social workers, in accordance with established protocols.

The Home Office, which is responsible for asylum and applications, said the welfare of children is a priority. “The safety and well-being of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children remains a priority, and we take cases of missing children very seriously.”