The essentials Across the Channel, British authorities are concerned about the recent disappearance of 76 unaccompanied minors. They were staying in a hotel in Brighton. Witnesses claim to have seen these children being forcibly taken away.
Sudden and disturbing. Across the Channel in the UK, the recent disappearance of 76 minors continues to worry authorities. The crime took place in front of a hotel in the city of Brighton in the south of the country. In the columns of The Observer newspaper, a security guard explains that he saw powerful cars driving through the establishment. According to him, several children were pushed into the vehicles before they disappeared.
Most of these minors are refugees who are housed there by the authorities. According to the police, the latter may have left the scene of the crime on their own, but several witness statements speak of kidnappings.
Local associations and elected officials sharply condemn these actions: “Organized crime is targeting this hotel. But that’s no surprise as the Labor Party warned when these shelters were chosen by the Conservative government. We had asked to give ‘we had received a categorical refusal,’ laments Bella Sankey, Brighton and Hove Councillor.
No kidnapping signal
Associations and elected officials are also calling for these minors to be placed in foster families or suitable structures. In this area, the arrival of refugee minors without parents or families is common. The UK Home Office decides to house them in hotel rooms while they await answers to their asylum application.
According to Franceinfo, 136 children have disappeared in a year and a half. Only 60 were found while authorities received no kidnapping report.