Urgent Crisis: Over 2,000 Trafficked and Asylum-Seeking children Missing from UK Care
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More then 2,000 vulnerable children – victims of trafficking or unaccompanied asylum seekers – disappeared from social services’ care in the United Kingdom last year, revealing a systemic failure to protect some of the nation’s most at-risk youth. The alarming figures, obtained through Freedom of Facts (FoI) requests, highlight critical gaps in the care system and expose these children to heightened risks of exploitation.
Systemic Failures
The report,titled “Until Harm Ends” and published Monday by the charities ECPAT UK and Missing Peopel,paints a stark picture of the challenges faced by trafficked children and those seeking refuge in the UK. Researchers submitted FoI requests to children’s services departments across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, seeking data on disappearances from care.
Data from 135 local authorities revealed that 864 out of 2,335 children identified as having been trafficked or suspected of being trafficked – representing 37% – were reported missing at some point during the year. A separate analysis of 141 local authorities showed that 1,501 of the 11,999 lone child asylum seekers in their care (13%) also went missing.
Heightened Vulnerability and Exploitation Risks
The report warns that these children are at “very high risk” of further harm when they go missing, facing potential re-trafficking, renewed exploitation, and increased vulnerability due to insecure immigration status. Some of these children are British citizens, while others arrive from overseas, but all are likely to have experienced, or be at risk of, sexual exploitation or criminal exploitation – including involvement with county lines gangs.
“This report highlights the risk trafficked and unaccompanied children face,” stated Patricia durr, the chief executive of ECPAT UK. “It remains challenging to understand why these children continue to be failed. They are consistently let down by the systems meant to support them, whilst being punished by policies that exacerbate the problem and used by a political rhetoric that seeks to create division.”
Accommodation Concerns for Older Children
Local authorities have a legal obligation to safeguard and support trafficked and unaccompanied children under existing child protection frameworks.However, the report points to a critical gap in protection for older teenagers. While children under 16 are now required to be placed in settings that provide extensive care, 16- and 17-year-olds can still be housed in “supported accommodation” lacking day-to-day supervision.
In exceptional cases, these older children are being placed in deeply inadequate settings, including hostels, caravans, tents, boats, or shared housing with unrelated adults. This lack of secure and supportive accommodation considerably increases their risk of exploitation.
Jane Hunter, the head of research and impact at Missing People, emphasized the fundamental need for safety: “every child deserves to feel safe and protected, yet trafficked and unaccompanied children are repeatedly failed by the very systems designed to safeguard them.”
Government Response and ongoing Reforms
A government spokesperson acknowledged the failings within the children’s social care system, stating that the current governance “inherited a children’s social care system failing to meet the needs of the country’s most vulnerable children.” They highlighted the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill as a landmark effort to overhaul the system,aiming to break the link between a child’s background and their future prospects.
The bill includes provisions for improving the availability of care placements, enhancing information sharing between agencies, establishing multi-agency child protection teams, and integrating safeguarding measures into education and childcare settings. Though, critics argue that the bill does not go far enough to address the immediate risks faced by these vulnerable children.
The lack of published central government data on these disappearances remains a significant concern, hindering efforts to understand the scale of the problem and implement effective solutions. The “Until Harm ends” report serves as a critical call to action for local authorities, police, and the Department for Education to prioritize the safety and well-being of trafficked and unaccompanied children and ensure they receive the protection they deserve.
