London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Whistleblowers expose UK migrant child trafficking

Whistleblowers expose UK migrant child trafficking

The UK Home Office has turned a blind eye to the disappearance of dozens of unaccompanied migrant children from a Sussex hotel it operates as a children’s home, according to an investigation by The Observer published on Saturday.
Of the 600 unaccompanied minors who have passed through the Home Office-run premises in Brighton over the last 18 months, some 136 have been reported missing, and 79 of those are still unaccounted for, the news outlet's investigation found. A whistleblower with Home Office security contractor Mitie told the paper that the alleged kidnappings are bold, frequent, and not limited to the Brighton facility. 

“Children are literally being picked up from outside the building, disappearing and not being found,” the security guard reportedly said, suggesting “traffickers” are responsible. A similar facility in Hythe, Kent allegedly lost 10% of its young charges every week. 

Police had been warning the Home Office for over a year that criminal networks would likely target the young asylum seekers being put up in the hotel, and the location was known to be problematic – a “hotspot of exploitation,” in the words of another source from child protection services – due to the operation of so-called 'county lines' gangs in the area.

The security guard even admitted to have witnessed the kidnappings by the gangs firsthand, but claimed feeling helpless to do anything about it. “Albanian and Eritrean gangs pick them up in their BMWs and Audis and then they just vanish,” the source said.

In May, two men were actually caught with three children – who were returned to the Home Office. In most cases, however, police investigations were merely “cursory,” and children were almost never returned, according to the Mitie worker.

While the whistleblowers have repeatedly warned the Home Office about the situation, “nothing much has changed,” The Observer reported. A Brighton councillor allegedly described the lack of government action as child neglect on an “industrial scale.” 

Asked what was being done to protect unaccompanied migrant children amid this kidnapping spree, the Home Office suggested it was a police problem, while the police referred questions to the Home Office. 

Even after it was revealed in October that 220 child asylum seekers had gone missing from facilities funded by the agency, which housed them in hotels alongside adults whose backgrounds had not been checked, no policy changes appear to have been made – even though officials have admitted in internal communications that they are effectively running unregistered and therefore illegal children’s homes.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×