Dozens of children who went missing from asylum hotels in the UK have not been found years later.
More than 470 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children went missing from hotels in 2023, with 40 yet to be found, a Human Rights Joint Committee report says. The figure has been falling gradually, from 118 in 2024 to 78 in 2025. The report's authors said all but two of the 40 who remain missing are now adults.
“This is an extremely concerning situation that has been developing for years without resolution, and one that we have vigorously pursued since 2023,” the committee's report said. “We urge the government to take further steps to publish data and to take action to locate all missing children and to avoid missing episodes in the future.”
The committee called on the Home Office to regularly publish data about the missing children and make public what they are doing to find them, with updates every three months.
Earlier investigations had found that missing asylum-seeking children were vulnerable to exploitation by organised crime groups. Dame Angela Eagle, in a letter to the committee last year in her role as border security and asylum minister, said some who had been found were “in exploitative situations and may have been trafficked”.
In March 2024, the High Court confirmed that the use of hotels to provide permanent or long-term housing for unaccompanied children was unlawful – this led to the closure of seven hotels housing unaccompanied children.
The UK government has vowed to stop using hotels to house asylum seekers by the next election, in favour of other buildings such as former military barracks. The controversial policy has faced widespread public backlash and has led to overcrowding in some hotels.
Dame Rachel de Souza, England’s Children’s Commissioner, said the situation was an “unacceptable failure”. She added: “Every child arriving in this country has the right to safely apply for asylum and to be provided with shelter and support while they do so.
“The disappearance of these children represents an unacceptable failure, and the government must set out the action it is taking to locate those still missing and prevent this happening again.”
A UK government representative said: “The safety and well-being of children is paramount and we take any child going missing extremely seriously.
“The Home Office-operated accommodation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children closed in January 2024. Since then, the vast majority of children reported missing from those settings have subsequently been located.
“Police forces are responsible for investigating missing children cases and we continue to review our records, share relevant information with them and work closely with local authorities and safeguarding partners to support those investigations.”
