Protesters in Brighton have shown support for the council’s plan to launch legal action against the Home Office for reopening a hotel where more than 100 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children went missing.
More than 100 people gathered outside Brighton Town Hall on Tuesday to oppose the move, with campaigners hoping that Brighton and Hove City Council’s bid could lead to action across the country to also stop it happening anywhere else.
Sussex Police have confirmed 139 young people went missing from Hove since July 2021 and 90 children have been found.
Brighton and Hove City Council leader councillor Bella Sankey said last week that the Home Office informed the council of plans to reopen the hotel despite 50 children “still unaccounted for”.
The former director of refugee charity Detention Action said: “We believe this is reckless and unlawful, and we are pressing ahead with urgent legal action to try and stop this from happening.”
Social worker and Homes Not Hotels campaigner Lauren Starkey shared some of the experiences working with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
“Not having enough food, not understanding who is to care for them, being unable to access proper healthcare.”
Ms Starkey also explained the Government messaging about sending asylum seekers to Rwanda and return deals with other countries makes them fearful of being sent back to countries they fled, and more likely to trust “unknown adults” approaching them and become vulnerable to traffickers.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “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.”
It is understood the borders and immigration watchdog found in October last year that young people in accommodation reported feeling safe, happy and treated with respect.
Campaign group Home Not Hotels is demanding the Home Office treats unaccompanied asylum-seeking children the same way as other children in need of protection, and provide funding needed for councils to carry out their duties.
The group is also demanding if the hotel is to reopen that Brighton and Hove City Council ensure no child is able to stay in the hotel for longer than 24 hours.
Among those attending the event, Alison Bell, 60, from group Lewes Organisation in Support of Refugees and Asylum Seekers, said: “We wouldn’t put our children in those hotels … those children went missing, I can’t believe it’s all happening again.”
Homes Not Hotels member Hermione Berendt, who also volunteers for refugee charity Care4Calais, said: “The evidence is there, leaving these children in limbo in hotels, without adequate support and protection, puts them at risk.
Wish our own homeless could be cared for too. Walking the dog at night we have loads of homeless people sleeping in doorways and bench’s. But i suppose the powers that be including our MP, don’t care about them.