A Catholic bishop has warned of “disturbing” reports of migrant children going missing after arriving in the UK.
Bishop Paul McAleenan, lead bishop for migrants and refugees at the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, told The Tablet that reports should “heighten our awareness of the dangers faced by many migrant children”.
He was responding to the admission of a Home Office minister that at least 200 unaccompanied refugee children have gone missing from hotels where they had been placed.
“Authorities with child migrants in their care must take all necessary steps to ensure that they are provided with a safe environment, protected from exploitation, provided with decent accommodation, healthcare and education,” said Bishop McAleenan, calling for a strategy to reunite migrant children with their families.
Campaigners from Justice and Peace Westminster and Southwark and Seeking Sanctuary have highlighted the situation in vigils this week at the Home Office in London and at Hove Town Hall.
Brighton and Hove Council is under particular pressure because dozens of children are missing from a Brighton hotel.
The Jesuit Refugee Service UK is among more than 100 signatories to a letter sent to the Prime Minister on 26 January of charities expressing “grave concern that separated children seeking asylum are going missing, suspected of being trafficked and criminally exploited, from hotels where they have continued to be accommodated by the Home Office”.
They requested the practice end and urged a speedy independent inquiry into “the reported failures to protect vulnerable children from harm”.
Meanwhile, the head teacher from St Anne’s and Guardian Angels Catholic Primary School in Whitechapel told The Tablet this week about the local welcome given to refugee children and their families.
Sheila Mouna said that 14 refugee children joined the school in October 2021 who had been housed in a local hotel and were from many different countries, including Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, each with different languages, cultures and journeys, some involving significant and complex trauma.
The school created a culture of welcome and a buddy system for all refugee students. Learning English was accelerated and a teaching assistant helped familiarise the students with local spaces, such as the supermarket and a local farm.
The school opened its kitchen to families living in hotels. “Families received £20 worth of Caritas Westminster Supermarket Vouchers per week, and with this they purchased food that they could cook in the school kitchen three afternoons per week,” said Mrs Mouna, “and when the food was prepared, they sat with their families to eat together.”
The broad issue of child poverty in the UK is a growing focus for charities as the cost-of-living crisis prompts increased demand for services to support families and young people.
Caritas Shrewsbury, Caritas Salford and Church Action on Poverty are among the Christian organisations recently joining the End Child Poverty Coalition of more than 80 members.
The government is being lobbied to scrap the benefit cap and two child limit, introduce universal free school meals, and ensure that families who receive benefit payments are getting enough to afford the basics.
Ben Gilchrist, chief executive of Caritas Shrewsbury, explained that “we work closely with families, young people, children and individuals and we see first-hand the huge impact poverty has on them”.
Patrick O’Dowd, director of Caritas Salford, said: “We are seeing every day the huge impact that poverty is having on children...this simply shouldn’t be happening in 2023.”
From the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, Fr Chris Hughes, vice-chair of Church Action on Poverty North East, reports that on 19 February his parish of St Cuthbert's will host a Poverty Action Sunday event focused on child poverty.
Speakers include Sir Alan Campbell MP and representatives from local food and baby banks and Gateshead Poverty Truth Commission.
He told The Tablet: “Our parish core group for Tyne and Wear Citizens is also encouraging Justice and Peace activists to ask the 17 dioceses in England and Wales who are not accredited by the Living Wage Foundation to seek accreditation.”
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