Asylum-seeker hotels for children 'a supermarket for gangs'

Hundreds of children who arrived in the UK and were put up in hotels have gone missing since July 2021. The BBC has spoken to one police force about how many lone teenage asylum seekers it has since found and where they are turning up.

Early last year, Sussex Police began to notice a steady increase in missing-children reports coming from a hotel providing temporary accommodation for young asylum seekers in Hove. By June, the number reported by the hotel - which has more than 50 bedrooms and is just a two-minute walk from the seafront - was in double figures.

"Forty-eight missing children were reported from that location in August alone," says Det Supt Kris Ottery.

The force set up a special unit and to date it has found 68 children who had disappeared from the hotel.

The majority were discovered with people known to the individuals, usually family. But some were identified after being arrested for crimes, including supplying drugs. Eight were found in situations in which they could be exploited. One had fled a car wash.

Sussex Police continue to search for 69 other children reported missing from the hotel.

What happened to the 200 migrant children who went missing from hotels in the UK? Listen to File on 4: Missing migrant children on BBC Sounds

Teenager Aaron (not his real name) is originally from Eritrea and arrived in the UK in January 2022. He was placed in a London hotel used by the Home Office to temporarily house lone asylum seekers aged over 18 (like him) and families. By May, he had been groomed by a local drug gang, which he told the BBC exploited his vulnerability to lure him into crime.

"They saw me looking poor and said, 'Hey, let me get you some new shoes'. They were calling to check how I'm doing, being with me on my tough moments. They became like friends," Aaron says.

"But suddenly they said, 'Listen, this is what we do - if you want to live like us, you need to sell drugs as well.'"

After five months in the gang, selling heroin and cocaine, Aaron managed to get out. He was scared of being caught by the police and struggling with the violence gang members inflicted on those who were late with payments.

Aaron says he often still sees the same gang members hanging around the hotel trying to recruit more teenagers. He says he has heard of children as young as 14 being approached.

"I escaped my country because of the violence and the brutal killings, so I don't want kids to be exposed to that here as well," he says. "We came here for freedom, not for joining gangs and causing violence to people."

The Home Office says the vast majority (88%) of the children who have gone missing are Albanian nationals.

Foster carer John Stokes has raised two Albanian teenage boys and works with community youth groups and charities. He says these disappearances are organised - planned by criminals who groom the children both before and during their journey to the UK.

"They follow them to the hotel and then pick them up, take them. They will use them for whatever they need and a certain amount of them will use them for illegal means," he says.

Mr Stokes believes vulnerable young asylum seekers are being put at risk.

"They don't want to be criminals. They are forced into it. The hotels are almost like opening a supermarket for gangs. You're putting youngsters on display."

The Home Office said it was "determined to stop the use of hotels for all minors". In a statement to the BBC, it said: "The wellbeing of children and minors in our care is an absolute priority.

"Robust safeguarding and welfare measures are in place at all temporary hotels to ensure children are safe, secure and supported as we urgently seek placements with a local authority."

Trying to track down a missing person about whom very little is known is challenging and the large numbers of young asylum seekers going missing from temporary accommodation while they wait for a place in care has prompted Sussex Police to rethink their approach.

The force now gathers key information about each of the children arriving at the hotel to give them a better chance of finding them in the event that they were to disappear.

"The work almost starts before people go missing," Det Supt Ottery says. "It's always good to be as prepared as we can and make sure that we're off to the best possible start."