More than 2,000 children who were trafficked or arrived in the UK alone to claim asylum disappeared from social services' care last year, according to freedom of information data shared with the Guardian. The report, titled Until Harm Ends, was published on Monday by charities ECPAT UK and Missing People.
Data from 135 local authorities revealed that out of 2,335 children identified as trafficked or suspected of being trafficked, 864 (37%) were reported missing. Additionally, 141 councils reported that out of 11,999 lone child asylum seekers in their care, 1,501 (13%) went missing.
The charities warn that these groups are at “very high risk” of going missing from care. Trafficked children may be British citizens or from overseas, often subjected to sexual or criminal exploitation, such as by county lines gangs. The report highlights a “continuing and significant failure” in safeguarding, urging local authorities and police to improve practices.
Factors like insecure immigration status heighten vulnerability to re-trafficking. The authors call on the Department for Education to ensure appropriate accommodation for these children, noting that while under-16s must be placed in care settings, 16- and 17-year-olds can still be housed in “supported accommodation” without day-to-day care, or even in hostels, caravans, or tents.
Patricia Durr, chief executive of ECPAT UK, said: “This report highlights the risk trafficked and unaccompanied children face. It remains challenging to understand why these children continue to be failed.” Jane Hunter of Missing People added: “Every child deserves to feel safe and protected, yet trafficked and unaccompanied children are repeatedly failed by the very systems designed to safeguard them.”
A government spokesperson responded that the government is overhauling children’s social care through the children’s wellbeing and schools bill, aiming to improve care placements, information sharing, and multi-agency child protection teams to prevent children from falling through the cracks.
