Image of Big Ben and UK Houses of Parliament.

Rebecca Ebony Goulbourne

A Brighton hotel, where 136 children migrants have gone missing, is set to house unaccompanied child migrants and asylum-seekers.

Missing Child Migrants

Leaked Home Office memos have revealed that a hotel in Brighton, where at least 136 children have gone missing, will reopen its site to accommodate young asylum seekers.

In total, over 400 unaccompanied children have gone missing in hotels operated by the Home Office. Around 154 children are still missing, according to a recent parliamentary debate.

”The council has argued that the overall wellbeing of asylum seekers, lies in the hands of the Home Office”

Around 50 young people are missing from the Brighton hotel. There are concerns that these disappearances are occurring due to coercion into gang activity. Some appear to have been trafficked, whilst others have been found hundreds of miles away from Brighton, including in areas of Scotland, according to the Guardian. 

‘It would be immoral to bring children back to this hotel’

Following the recent arrangement, Brighton and Hove City Council has expressed its intention to prevent the Home Office from reopening the hotel for refugees.

The council has requested a meeting with the Home Office regarding missing asylum-seeking children from another hotel in Hove. Council Labour leader, Bella Sankey told the Observer: ”We think it would be unlawful and immoral to bring children back to this hotel.”

”The Home Office has been criticised for its inability to securely house and protect the UK’s most vulnerable”

An anonymous source, who works for Brighton children’s services told the Guardian: “I don’t think it is a coincidence that these hotels were emptied after the scandal of the missing young people broke.

“Now public exposure has died down they’re actually reopening the very same place. It’s outrageous.”

The welfare of all asylum seekers was the responsibility of the Home Office. However, a family court recently ruled that children arriving in the UK alone are the responsibility of local authorities and not the Home Office.

Despite criticism by the council and the public, plans to rehouse asylum-seeking youths in the Brighton hotel have proceeded. The Home Office is already prepared to begin moving unaccompanied children to the site.

The refugee crisis places pressure on the already overcrowded asylum system, as well as the UK’s ongoing housing crisis. The Home Office has been widely criticised for its failure to securely house some of the UK’s most vulnerable.

Unsafe Housing for Child Migrants

Local councils have raised concerns with the Home Office regarding the safe use of the hotel as far back as 2021, with the Home Office agreeing to close the site in the February of that year. However, their promises have remained unfulfilled.

A report by the Guardian revealed that child refugees were subjected to racial abuse and threats by hotel staff. The whistle-blower, who previously worked at the Brighton hotel, alleged the Home Office did not have any regard for the safety of the child migrants which drove them into the hands of criminals.

When instances of abuse by staff were reported, no action was taken by the Home Office-run hotel.

Home Office response

The Home Office spokesperson told the Guardian: “Due to the rise in dangerous small boats crossings, the government has had no alternative but to urgently use hotels to give unaccompanied asylum-seeking children arriving in the UK a roof over their heads.

“The wellbeing of children and minors in our care is an absolute priority and there is 24/7 security at every hotel used to accommodate them.”

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Featured image courtesy of Heidi Fin on Unsplash. No changes have been made to this image. Image license found here.

Undergrad English student with an intense passion for storytelling, writing, and critical thinking.

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