https://sputnikglobe.com/20230126/uk-pm-sunak-urged-to-probe-unlawful-scheme-for-housing-migrant-children-in-hotels-1106719750.html
UK PM Sunak Urged to Probe 'Unlawful Scheme' for Housing Migrant Children in Hotels
UK PM Sunak Urged to Probe 'Unlawful Scheme' for Housing Migrant Children in Hotels
Sputnik International
The British government is under pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers staying in hotels. Last year saw more than 45,000 migrants cross the English Channel to get to the UK, a new record high.
2023-01-26T09:56+0000
2023-01-26T09:56+0000
2023-05-28T15:25+0000
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Over 100 UK charities have signed an open letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging him to endorse an independent probe into how scores of asylum-seeking children have gone missing from Home Office hotels.The letter was also inked by children's rights organization ECPAT UK and the Refugee Council, who condemned the government's "failures to protect vulnerable children from harm."The charities said that the Home Office had “repeatedly failed” to commit to an end date for the scheme.Chief executive of the Refugee Council Enver Solomon for his part stressed that “[…] children who have experienced unimaginable horror and upheaval coming to our country [the UK] in search of safety are highly traumatized and vulnerable.”Solomon was echoed by Expat UK CEO Patricia Durr, who said that “despite evidence of the risks and numerous representations, the [British] government has ignored the warnings and is yet to commit to an exit strategy, seeming to prefer to entrench this discriminatory approach to some of the most vulnerable children with the greatest need of protection and care.”The remarks come after Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told MPs that about 200 children, mostly teenage Albanian boys, remain missing from hotels housing asylum seekers. He described the situation as "extremely concerning" but added that he had not seen evidence the children were being abducted.Labour's Shadow Home Yvette Cooper reacted by accusing cabinet ministers of a "dereliction of duty." He argued that there was "a criminal network involved" in taking the children away from their accommodation and that the government was "completely failing to stop them." According to Cooper, the ministers are “letting these gangs run amuck."Earlier this year, British media cited figures released by the government as indicating that a record 45,700 people have traveled to the UK across the English Channel in small boats in 2022, up more than 60% compared to 2021.In August 2022, the UK recorded the highest number of monthly border crossings since 2019, with more than 13,500 people crossing the Channel to enter the country. In October, media reports said that the country was spending almost 7 million pounds ($8.5 million) per day on hotels for asylum seekers.Illegal migrants often seek any opportunity to cross the Channel and end up in the UK, lured by social welfare, the possibility of obtaining refugee status and financial support.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20211119/priti-patel-blames-schengen-agreement-for-mass-migration-crisis-in-uk-1090851435.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20221115/uk-home-office-ejects-foreign-nurses-from-york-hotel-rooms-to-accommodate-migrants-1104138636.html
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uk charities' letter to rishi sunak, asylum-seeking children in uk, small boat crossings, number of uk asylum seekes staying in hotels
uk charities' letter to rishi sunak, asylum-seeking children in uk, small boat crossings, number of uk asylum seekes staying in hotels
UK PM Sunak Urged to Probe 'Unlawful Scheme' for Housing Migrant Children in Hotels
09:56 GMT 26.01.2023 (Updated: 15:25 GMT 28.05.2023) The British government is under pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers staying in hotels. Last year saw more than 45,000 migrants cross the English Channel to get to the UK, a new record high.
Over 100 UK charities have signed an open letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging him to endorse an independent probe into how scores of
asylum-seeking children have gone missing from Home Office hotels.
The letter was also inked by children's rights organization ECPAT UK and the Refugee Council, who condemned the government's "failures to protect vulnerable children from harm."
“There is no legal basis for placing children in Home Office hotel accommodation, and almost two years into the operation of the scheme - which is both unlawful and harmful - it is no longer possible to justify the use of hotels as being 'temporary',” the document reads.
19 November 2021, 08:37 GMT
The charities said that the Home Office had “repeatedly failed” to commit to an end date for the scheme.
Chief executive of the Refugee Council Enver Solomon for his part stressed that “[…] children who have experienced unimaginable horror and upheaval coming to our country [the UK] in search of safety are highly traumatized and vulnerable.”
“The government has a very clear legal duty to protect them, but is failing to do so, with the equivalent of several classrooms of children seemingly having disappeared into the clutches of those who will exploit and abuse them. This is a child-protection scandal that councils, the police and ministers must urgently address to ensure every single separated child matters and is kept safe,” he added.
Solomon was echoed by Expat UK CEO Patricia Durr, who said that “despite evidence of the risks and numerous representations, the [British] government has ignored the warnings and is yet to commit to an exit strategy, seeming to prefer to entrench this discriminatory approach to some of the most vulnerable children with the greatest need of protection and care.”
“We need an urgent commitment to end this practice immediately and to ensure that separated children are as cared for and protected as all other children within our legal and well-established child welfare framework. Rather than setting up separate provision, the government must provide local authorities with sufficient funds to properly fulfil their legal duties to children,” Durr pointed out.
The remarks come after Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told MPs that about 200 children, mostly teenage Albanian boys, remain missing from hotels housing asylum seekers. He described the situation as "extremely concerning" but added that he had not seen evidence the children were being abducted.
Labour's Shadow Home Yvette Cooper reacted by accusing cabinet ministers of a "dereliction of duty." He argued that there was "a criminal network involved" in taking the children away from their accommodation and that the government was "completely failing to stop them." According to Cooper, the ministers are “letting these gangs run amuck."
15 November 2022, 06:33 GMT
Earlier this year, British media cited figures released by the government as indicating that a record 45,700 people have traveled to the UK across
the English Channel in small boats in 2022, up more than 60% compared to 2021.
In August 2022, the UK recorded the highest number of monthly border crossings since 2019, with more than 13,500 people crossing the Channel to enter the country. In October, media reports said that the country was spending almost 7 million pounds ($8.5 million) per day on hotels for asylum seekers.
Illegal migrants often seek any opportunity to cross the Channel and end up in the UK, lured by social welfare, the possibility of obtaining refugee status and financial support.
