200 child refugees go missing

These children should have been safe in this country. They should have had their asylum applications prioritised. They should each have been assigned a guardian. They should have been protected as we would wish our own children to be protected.

They may have fled conflicts and escaped from great danger. They risked their lives to reach our shores. We should have protected them but we have let them down.

This is so so awful

If we can't keep children safe, what sort of country is this?

I felt sick when I saw this.

Presumably these children have been brought here by gangmasters, collected and now are destined for a life of crime under the radar.

Just awful. I wonder if their parents thought they were sending them to a better life.

Apparently most of them are teenage Albanian boys. They are presumably put to work somewhere. I just wonder why couldn't they be passed to one of the UK children's charities when they arrive? Instead they are just shipped out to hotels. The gangmasters know where they are and just have to pick them up.

The Home Office knows exactly the risk to these children when they arrive unaccompanied.

They did nothing.

After reading this report I feel physically sick. What on Earth is going on in our country?

It is beyond disgusting and so so sad. One day, we will be judged on this, as a country. Yes, I feel sick, upset, and also very angry.

This is Braverman's responsibility. What is she doing about it?

It is disgusting that they have disappeared.

They are not monitored 24/7 (my teenage GC go to and from school independently) presumably they disappeared on the way to or from school.

I would like to know more details before I condemn anyone.

GrannyGravy13

It is disgusting that they have disappeared.

They are not monitored 24/7 (my teenage GC go to and from school independently) presumably they disappeared on the way to or from school.

I would like to know more details before I condemn anyone.

Here are the details www.nytimes.com/2023/01/26/world/europe/uk-asylum-seekers-children-missing.html#:~:text=Robert%20Jenrick%2C%20the%20immigration%20minister,half%20had%20been%20accounted%20for.

I wonder if your GCs had no family here. If they were alone in a hotel. If they were being watched by criminals would you still be happy for them to walk to school?

Of the 200 missing 13 were under 16. I’d guess that the older ones weren’t attending school. When my son was in university there was an asylum seekers hostel down the road from his flat, and the occupants were free to come and go as they wished. It would make sense for under 18s to be housed separately to adults, but I’d imagine there were many hundreds more young people recruited who were 18 or 19, as well as the missing 17 year olds - we just haven’t heard about them.

This country hasn’t been safe for children for a very long time.
I help to support the Maggie Oliver Foundation.
Only yesterday I received my update on what the police are not doing to protect our children.

Glorianny

Apparently most of them are teenage Albanian boys. They are presumably put to work somewhere. I just wonder why couldn't they be passed to one of the UK children's charities when they arrive? Instead they are just shipped out to hotels. The gangmasters know where they are and just have to pick them up.

Our childrens charities are full.
These young Albanian boys know exactly where they are going the moment they get on that inflatable.

MerylStreep

Glorianny

Apparently most of them are teenage Albanian boys. They are presumably put to work somewhere. I just wonder why couldn't they be passed to one of the UK children's charities when they arrive? Instead they are just shipped out to hotels. The gangmasters know where they are and just have to pick them up.

Our childrens charities are full.
These young Albanian boys know exactly where they are going the moment they get on that inflatable.

Of course they do. They want to be exploited. They want to work in sweatshops for gangmasters. Maybe they'll be sent cockle picking on a beach. Maybe they'll end up buried in landfill. Who cares?? They knew what they were getting into.
No room at this Inn!!!

Teenagers or Adults most know where to call to be picked up when they are not under supervision, then they start to “earn”their journey, they are indentured for many years.

Gloryannie
No, they will be caring for all those cannabis plants.
The Albanians have got rid of the Vietnamese and replaced them with their own lads.

The Albanian teenagers want to earn money, this is what they come here to do, not claim asylum to ‘be safe’. They were already safe in Albania.
I hate to think that those under age 16 are unaccounted for tho.

MerylStreep

Gloryannie
No, they will be caring for all those cannabis plants.
The Albanians have got rid of the Vietnamese and replaced them with their own lads.

Quite possibly. But do you imagine they will be well treated? One of the ways they are manipulated and forced to work is by threats being made to their families back home. And if you imagine that this is a choice they make, you probably think that the girls trafficked into prostitution choose that lifestyle as well. The ways criminal gangs treat children are not pleasant. I suppose it makes some people feel better imagining that a 16-18 year old chooses to work for a criminal gang, or indeed that they are mature enough to make that choice.
And if you can't see that powerful criminal gangs are as much a danger to vulnerable children in this country as they are to refugees, and that failing to regulate and control them puts all of them at risk, then you are just ignoring the facts, perhaps because of your own prejudices.