UK must protect unaccompanied children seeking asylum, say UN experts

The United Kingdom must ensure the protection of all children seeking asylum without discrimination and end the practice of placing unaccompanied children in hotels, UN experts said Tuesday.

"We are deeply concerned at reports that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are going missing and are at high risk of being trafficked within the UK," the experts said in a statement.

They expressed alarm at the current policy and practice of housing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in temporary hotel accommodations instead of under the responsibility of local authorities.

The experts noted reports that 4,600 unaccompanied children had been housed in six hotels since June 2021.

Of those children, mostly Albanian nationals, 440 had disappeared, and 220 remained unaccounted for as of Jan. 23.

"The current policy of placing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in hotels places them outside of the UK child protection system and is discriminatory," the experts said.

They explained that failures and gaps in child protection heighten the risks of trafficking.

The experts stressed the urgent need to trace the missing children.

Authorities must provide human rights-compliant reception conditions and protection for unaccompanied children seeking asylum-without discrimination based on nationality, migration status, race, ethnicity, and gender.

"The UK government appears to be failing to abide by its core obligations under international human rights law to ensure the best interests of the child, without discrimination, and to prevent trafficking of children," the experts said.

"The practice has allegedly developed in a climate of increasing hostility towards victims of trafficking and contemporary forms of slavery, refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants," the experts said.

The experts include Siobhán Mullally, special rapporteur on trafficking, especially women and children; Felipe González Morales, special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; and Tomoya Obokata, special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery.