Why do some asylum seekers are missing?

Over 50 children looking for asylum alone, who have disappeared from the care of the Kent Council, for a period of six years, are not accountable, can reveal BBC South East.

The figures obtained from the Kent County Council show that 52 sub-18 years disappeared from care and did not return between 2018-19 and 2023-24.

KCC says he works closely with Kent police, home office and caregivers to reduce the risk of unaccompanied children who are looking for asylum (UAS) who are permanently missing and keep them safe.

The Council said the missing percentage continued to decrease in spite of increase in number of children entering their temporary care.

Roger Gough, the leader of the Kent County Council, said that any child who disappeared was a “serious concern”, and the Council made “every effort to prevent this from happening.”

“We also work to address factors that can cause them to disappear – such as looking for contact with a family or extended friends that could already be in the UK,” he said.

He added that it is “important to remember that these children are not in detention while in our care” and that it was “illegal to restrict the freedom of any child or young without the permission of the courts.”

In 2023-24 there were 265 missing episodes that involved 153 children, according to the figures obtained by the BBC using a request for freedom of information.

The largest number of missing incidents in that year involved children from Afghanistan, Albania and Iran.

The youngest person who disappeared was a 13 -year -old who had disappeared for an hour.

The longest period of time a child has disappeared before being found again in the last six years was 338 days.

The unseen charity, which leads the line of assistance of modern slavery, said that some young people risk exploiting and traffic.

Justine Carter, the executive director of charity, said that missing children are facing “significant risks”.

“They could be encouraged or constrained to participate in criminal activities or could be targeted by sexual exploitation,” she said.

Concern about Children seeking missing asylum attracted national attention When some disappear from hotels that were used to temporarily house them by the home office, a policy that has now ended.

Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame, Rachel de Souza, said a Commons Committee This month, some children who were placed in hotels by the home office, apart from the council care, were still missing.

The charity of every child protected against trafficking in the UK (ECPAT UK) has said that it is traffickers in the UK, who could be approached by traffickers in the UK.

Patricia Durr, the executive director of charity, said: “In our activity, many of the children who are not dedicated were treated in the United Kingdom, treated on the route or treated here.

“They are separated from the house, families, friends and communities and they need more care.

“Our concern is that once a child is missing, either they will be exploited, or will be more vulnerable to operation or traffic.”

But Tim Loughton, the former Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, who was a member of the Internal Affairs Selection Committee, BBC South East said that not all children are the target of human dealers.

“Much of Albania and we know about what happened to the missing children from hotels, they were not abducted, many left by themselves and team with relatives or friends from Albania and live with them,” he said.

“This is not the case with criminal gangs, although it may be the case for some, which is why we have to keep an adequate way of all.”