Unaccompanied children must be protected by the care system, not placed in hotels

We write in response to ECPAT UK’s new report Outside the Frame, which gives chilling statistics on how many children arriving in England without a parent or guardian in the last year were denied the urgent care the state owes them. We are a wide range of organisations who want children in the UK to be seen as children first and foremost and to be protected and cared for safely and without discrimination.

1,606 children who arrived alone in England between July 2021 and June 2022 were placed in hotel accommodation directly by the Home Office, instead of in the care of local authorities where they could receive the support and protection that, by law, every child in the UK is entitled to. 45 children, some as young as 11, went missing over a 10-month period.

Our concern for these children cannot be overstated. Already vulnerable, separated and traumatised, isolated from family support networks, they are at greatest risk of going missing and of exploitation and trafficking. Some may have already been trafficked and are at significant risk of being re-trafficked. They need - and are entitled to - care in supportive foster or residential homes, with skilled professionals to help them recover in safety.

The Home Office is breaching the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and the Children Act 1989 by continuing to assume direct responsibility and to house children in Home Office-acquired accommodation, undermining the legal framework all our children rely on and creating an unofficial shadow system in which children, as the data now shows, may disappear from sight.

This unacceptable policy, condemned by Ofsted, the Home Affairs Select Committee and also over 70 organisations this time last year, has been explained by the Department for Education and the Home Office as an ‘emergency measure’ but has been in practice for two years. It amounts to negligence in corporate parenting duties and is void of respect for children’s rights. We urge government to step up to its most vital role - protecting and caring for children.

Action is urgently needed: this is the time of year when Kent County Council may consider its capacity to take responsibility for unaccompanied children is exceeded by the numbers of children arriving, and the council may once again consider it cannot fulfil its duties to any of them. We repeat our concerns of July 2021 that the response of the government should not be to place children in hotels, outside of the care system.

The care system across all local authorities is severely stretched, and children’s services departments are in the impossible position of having to accept children they don’t have appropriate homes and services to support. We therefore support the recommendations in ECPAT UK’s report: use of Home Office hotel accommodation must cease and central government must invest in proper care for children, so that local authorities can accept and
support every child who arrives on our shores without a parent or guardian, as the law dictates.

Signatories as at Friday 12th August 2022:

Kathy Evans, CEO, Children England
Patricia Durr, CEO, ECPAT UK
Andy Elvin CEO TACT
Nick Watts Director Together with Migrant Children
Jane Collins Director FosterSupport
Sherry Peck, CEO, Safer London
Navinder Kaur, CEO, Voluntary Action Islington
Mark Lee Chief, CEO, Together Trust
Debbie Hughes, Director/CEO, Hounslow Action for Youth (HAY)
Ian Soars, CEO, Spurgeon's
Andrea Maddocks, CEO, Mentor Link
Andrew Varley, CEO, St. Vincent's Family Project
Jackie Rosenberg, CEO, One Westminster
Christine Freeman, Acting Chair, Enfield Children and Young People's Services
Simon Barrow, Director Ekklesia,
Vivienne Evans, CEO, Adfam
Maggie Jones, CEO, CVAA
Carolyne Willow, Director, Article 39
Hannah Baynes, Paediatric Consultant, NHS
Katharine Sacks-Jones, CEO, Become
Clare Scherer, CEO, Naval Children's Charity
Katie Clarke, Director, Bringing Us Together
Sara Robinson, Centre Director, St Augustine's Centre
Mark Simms, CEO, P3 Charity
Anna Khan, CEO, Welcare
Shaqib Juneja Interim, CEO, My Family Group
Temi Mwale, Executive Director, The 4Front Project Ltd
Andrea Hunt, Foster Carer, Warwickshire County Council
Andrew Evans, CEO, METRO Charity
Zara Mohammed, Secretary General, Muslim Council of Britain
Sabah Gilani, Director, Muslim Mind Collaborative
Fadi Itani OBE, CEO, Muslim Charities Forum
Kashif Shabir, CEO, Muslim Aid
John McGowan, General Secretary, Social Workers Union
Anna Feuchtwang, CEO, National Children's Bureau
Brigid Robinson, Managing Director, Coram Voice
Dr Razia Shariff, CEO, Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN)
Carole Littlechild, Chair, Nagalro – Professional Association for Children’s Guardians, Family Court, Advisers and Independent Social Workers
Sariya Cheruvallil, Contractor Associate Professor in the Sociology of Islam, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social
Relations, Coventry University
Sharon Martin, Chair, National IRO Managers Partnership (NIROMP)
Alison Pickup, Director, Asylum Aid
Philip Ishola, CEO, Love146
Richard Hammond, CEO, The Separated Child Foundation
Tim Naor Hilton, CEO, Refugee Action
Martin Sexton, Chair, Policy Ethics and Human Rights Committee, British Association of Social Workers
Bella Sankey, Director, Detention Action
Dr Paul Rigby, Senior Lecturer, Social Work, University of Stirling
Dr Natalia Paszkiewicz, Project Lead, Da'aro Youth Project
Emily Crowley, CEO, Student Action for Refugees
Dr Carol Homden CBE, Group Chief Executive, Coram
Hamida Ali, Director, ECYPS-Children & Young Persons Services
Alison Birch, Director, After18
Celia Sands, CEO, South London Refugee Association
Jimmy Zachariah, CEO, Baca
Dr Edie Friedman, CEO, The Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE)
Kayte Cable and Vicki Felgate, Co-Founders, Big Leaf Foundation
Catherine Gladwell, CEO, Refugee Education UK
Enver Solomon, CEO, Refugee Council
Andrew Sirel, Legal Director & Partner, JustRight Scotland
Cathy Ashley, CEO, Family Rights Group
Katie Fennell, National Coordinator, Kids in Need of Defense UK (KIND UK)
Melian Mansfield, Chair of Trustees, London Play
Naomi Jackson, Development Lead, Social Workers Without Borders
Justin Humphreys, CEO, Thirtyone:eight
Lynn Perry MBE, CEO, Barnardo's
Beth Wilson, CEO, Bristol Refugee Rights
Matt Blacker, CEO, Hope for the Young
Karen Pearse, Director, Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Ellen Broome, Managing Director, CoramBAAF
Molly Brech, Head of Services (Brent), Young Roots
Rebecca Ives, Associate Solicitor, Wilson Solicitors LLP

Latest

Joint statement on the treatment of unaccompanied children in response to Chief Inspectorate reports

ECPAT UK has joined 19 other organisations in continuing the call for an independent inquiry into the treatment of unaccompanied children following the publication of outstanding reports including the reinspection of Home Office hotels, by His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration
VIDEO EVENT - Prevention and identification of children and young adults experiencing, or at risk of, modern slavery in the UK.

Launch event of our latest report, ‘Prevention and identification of children and young adults experiencing, or at risk of, modern slavery in the UK', with ECPAT UK and Rights Lab on 26 February 2024.
ECPAT UK Expresses Deep Concern Over Dismissal of Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration  Amidst Unpublished Report on Unaccompanied Children in Home Office Hotels

Raising serious concerns about the UK government's accountability and commitment to child protection, the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Neal, has been dismissed by the Home Office.
Prevention and identification of children and young adults experiencing, or at risk of, modern slavery in the UK.

New research report reveals the alarming reality of child modern slavery in the UK and calls for urgent action to protect children and young people.

Joint statement on the treatment of unaccompanied children in response to Chief Inspectorate reports

ECPAT UK has joined 19 other organisations in continuing the call for an independent inquiry into the treatment of unaccompanied children following the publication of outstanding reports including the reinspection of Home Office hotels, by His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration
New research reveals the alarming reality of child modern slavery in the UK and calls for urgent action to protect children

This new report identified the reality of child modern slavery in the UK and signalled a critical call to action. The research highlights challenges stemming from gaps in resources and policy, especially in the absence of a UK wide Child Exploitation Strategy.
Child victim of trafficking failed by Barnet Council and the Home Office wins High Court case

High Court has found that a child victim of trafficking was failed by the London Borough of Barnet and the Home Office after receiving no specialist support for several years.
Home Affairs Committee speaks out against Home Office treatment of migrant children and calls for increased care for child victims of trafficking in new report.

ECPAT UK has welcomed the report from the Home Affairs Select Committee published today following its inquiry into human trafficking. The report speaks out against Home Office treatment of migrant children and calls for increased care for child victims of trafficking in new report.
Judge rules that the Home Secretary acted irrationally in the case brought by Kent County Council on the operation of the National Transfer Scheme

High Court rules that the Home Secretary acted irrationally in its operation of the National Transfer Scheme in a further judgement about the accommodation of unaccompanied children in Home Office hotels.
ECPAT UK BIG GIVE CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE 2023

We are delighted to be taking part once again in the Big Give Christmas Challenge Week matched funding campaign. From 28th November to 5th December 2023 all donations are DOUBLED in support of our direct work with child victims of trafficking
King’s Speech announces new laws to tackle online child exploitation whilst reconfirming the UK government’s desire to remove the rights of child victims

The King’s Speech, which was held on 7th November 2023, announces new laws to tackle online child exploitation whilst reconfirming the UK government’s desire to remove the rights of child victims.
ECPAT UK welcomes the announcement of a new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner

Eleanor Lyons, current Deputy to the Children's Commissioner, has been announced as the new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner today by the Home Office after 18 month vacancy
High Court orders Home Office to transfer unaccompanied children from hotels into care

At a further High Court hearing on 15th September Mr Justice Chamberlain ordered the Home Office to take all possible steps to transfer all unaccompanied children seeking asylum currently in Home Office hotels to local authority care by 22 September 2023.
High Court retains oversight of the treatment of unaccompanied children

At a further High Court hearing on 17th August Mr Justice Chamberlain ordered continued oversight of the treatment of unaccompanied children by the Home Secretary and Kent County Council, marking the unlawful conduct of the local authority by a specific declaration and setting out further conditions and evidence for the defendants to comply with and a further court hearing.

Child trafficking statistics

The latest data on the number of victims of trafficking in the UK and worldwide.
National Referral Mechanism

The National Referral Mechanism is a process set up by the Government to identify and support victims of trafficking in the UK. It was born out of the Government's obligation to identify victims under the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Human Trafficking, which came into force on 1 February 2008.
What is child trafficking?
The Secret Gardeners: New film on child trafficking from Vietnam

The Secret Gardeners aims to inform professionals about the plight of children who are forced by organised crime gangs to grow drugs in houses across the UK but who often face criminalisation and prison.
Volunteer

ECPAT UK relies on committed volunteers to support the work that we do. Without their help, we would not be able to campaign as effectively against child exploitation.
Our team

ECPAT UK's team has more than 30 years' experience working on issues of child trafficking, child protection, child sexual exploitation, unaccompanied children, modern slavery and more.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty that grants all children and young people (aged 17 and under) a comprehensive set of rights. The UK signed the Convention on 19 April 1990, ratified it on 16 December 1991 and it came into force on 15 January 1992.
About us

ECPAT UK is a leading children's rights organisation working to protect children from child trafficking and transnational child exploitation. We support children everywhere to uphold their rights and to live a life free from abuse and exploitation.
Urgent action needed: Independent guardianship for all trafficked, unaccompanied and separated children

Last October, an incredible 120,535 supporters called for specialist support for all trafficked children. However, the fight is not finished. Make sure your voice is heard by contacting the Home Secretary asking him to provide guardianship for all trafficked, separated and unaccompanied children
Demand specialist support for trafficked children

In 2018 we worked with Care2 to call on the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid MP, to overhaul the current system of identification and support for victims of trafficking – the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).