Revealed: Number of times asylum-seeking children have gone missing from Home Office hotels

MPs said ‘nothing is happening’ to find children missing from hotels

More than 4,500 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been accommodated in hotels since July 2021 (AFP/Getty)

Asylum-seeking children have gone missing from Home Office hotels more than 400 times since July 2021, a minister has admitted.

Robert Jenrick, minister for immigration, told the Commons on Tuesday that cases were being treated in “exactly the same way as any young person who goes missing”, but MPs raised concerns that “nothing is happening” to find those being kidnapped by gangs.

More than 4,600 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been housed in hotels since July 2021, but 440 have gone missing during that time, Mr Jenrick revealed. Some 200 children are still unaccounted for – 13 of which are under the age of 16.