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OMFG Children being kidnapped from Home Office Hotel

419 replies

MorelloKisses · 21/01/2023 21:57

Children kidnapped from Home Office hotel

"A whistleblower, who works for Home Office, describes children being abducted off the street outside the hotel and bundled into cars".

How is this not top news story?? Those poor children.

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Mammajay · 21/01/2023 22:00

Has it been verified?

MorelloKisses · 21/01/2023 22:02

Well, that is a genuine news story from The Observer. It’s journalistic though, not an independent report.

OP posts:
Forever42 · 21/01/2023 22:04

Gosh that's awful. They come here to escape danger and are not protected.

MorelloKisses · 21/01/2023 22:10

It really does make completely abhorrent reading. How can Suella Braverman survive this type of disgrace?

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Onnabugeisha · 21/01/2023 22:10

This isn’t news. It’s been widely known for some time that human traffickers are trafficking minors across the channel and then collecting them at the hotels being contracted to house asylum seekers.

Onnabugeisha · 21/01/2023 22:11

How can Suella Braverman survive this type of disgrace?
Because it’s been going on since Theresa May was Home Secretary…

MorelloKisses · 21/01/2023 22:15

This isn’t news

…we’ll it certainly isn’t ok!

OP posts:
LizzieSiddal · 21/01/2023 22:16

WTF! What is going on?!

ToBeOrNotToBee · 21/01/2023 22:21

This has been going on for years.

The kids end up being used for county lines and on cannabis farms.

Anyone who uses drugs is complicit in this slavery.

Dibbydoos · 21/01/2023 22:36

I had no idea this was happening. Its an absolute travesty, but as others have commented, clearly orchestrated :(

Slavery was abolished in 1833, yet here we are with slavery right here under our noses, but this time it's not black people from African nations or the Caribbean, but mainly European refuges who are principally women and in this case, children.

My heart bleeds for them. The world we live in is sh1t.

Strathyre · 21/01/2023 22:36

I've just seen this too, I feel physically sick. So we are putting children (who are likely already frightened in a new country without family) in hotels where they are then being targeted by organised gangs. But it's not a top news item because we don't really see them as children - I think there's this image that they are hardened criminals gaming the system. There are more political points to be won by deterring them than protecting them, which should be a source of shame for the whole country.

Onnabugeisha · 21/01/2023 22:37

ToBeOrNotToBee · 21/01/2023 22:21

This has been going on for years.

The kids end up being used for county lines and on cannabis farms.

Anyone who uses drugs is complicit in this slavery.

Yea, the boys are destined for cannabis farms, drug selling and other areas like farms and construction. Most of the girls are destined for the sex trade. It is all modern slavery.

MeinKraft · 21/01/2023 22:40

ToBeOrNotToBee · 21/01/2023 22:21

This has been going on for years.

The kids end up being used for county lines and on cannabis farms.

Anyone who uses drugs is complicit in this slavery.

And even worse prospects for the girls.

Onnabugeisha · 21/01/2023 22:43

Strathyre · 21/01/2023 22:36

I've just seen this too, I feel physically sick. So we are putting children (who are likely already frightened in a new country without family) in hotels where they are then being targeted by organised gangs. But it's not a top news item because we don't really see them as children - I think there's this image that they are hardened criminals gaming the system. There are more political points to be won by deterring them than protecting them, which should be a source of shame for the whole country.

They’re actually targeted prior to the channel crossing, not afterwards.
The gangs either lie to them about great jobs waiting for them in the U.K. and lie to them saying they will help them “escape” immigration detention and then pick them up outside and cart them off to slavery.
Or the gangs threaten them and say we will kill your family if you don’t go to the U.K. on a boat, and you’d better be outside at such and such a time or we kill your family.

There’s tons of young adults being trafficked the same way but as “tourists” on flights to “great jobs” or as “students” to “training colleges” in the U.K. The gangs pretend to handle all the visa paperwork for them. They get told they’ll be welcomed by “staff” at the airport and then are whisked away, passport taken, and enslaved.

Ted27 · 21/01/2023 22:43

Most people don't care about refugees or asylum seekers, p children or otherwise, as long as they are housed as far away from them as possible

Icecreamandapplepie · 21/01/2023 22:44

Surely they're all just 45 year olds masquerading as 9 year olds?

Obviously being sarcastic. My heart weeps for these poor bloody children. But the above is what certain sections of the public believe. Sickening.

thankyouforthesun · 21/01/2023 22:46

People I know working in the Jungle talked about unaccompanied minors disappearing and authorities doing nothing. It's an enormous safeguarding problem. These poor children. We are massively failing them and they are already so traumatised.

Zosime · 21/01/2023 23:06

What is the solution? Other than locking these children and young people in their rooms to prevent them from leaving the hotel?

StaunchMomma · 22/01/2023 01:01

Just thinking about this makes me feel sick.

Braverman should be publicly shamed if she knows about this but is not doing anything about it.

BewareTheLibrarians · 22/01/2023 01:04

Zosime · 21/01/2023 23:06

What is the solution? Other than locking these children and young people in their rooms to prevent them from leaving the hotel?

The solution is children being housed by the local authority (foster care/children’s accommodation and similar) not put into hotels. The Home Office has overidden local authorities and housed these children in hotels unlawfully.

BewareTheLibrarians · 22/01/2023 01:06

Icecreamandapplepie · 21/01/2023 22:44

Surely they're all just 45 year olds masquerading as 9 year olds?

Obviously being sarcastic. My heart weeps for these poor bloody children. But the above is what certain sections of the public believe. Sickening.

Yep. I’ve ranted about this in another thread but it bears saying again -

Every person who perpetuates the “they’re all adults pretending to be children” myth, this is what you allow by believing and spreading that shit. Children being kidnapped so the government can appease their racist base. What a fucking low.

Aintaintaword · 22/01/2023 01:17

BewareTheLibrarians · 22/01/2023 01:04

The solution is children being housed by the local authority (foster care/children’s accommodation and similar) not put into hotels. The Home Office has overidden local authorities and housed these children in hotels unlawfully.

They are often taken from foster accommodation too though.

Local authorities don't have alternative accommodation, they are full.
People were queuing up to house Ukrainians but sadly not many people sign up to foster vulnerable children, especially of different nationalities.

Aintaintaword · 22/01/2023 01:19

There are thousands of trafficked children in the UK. 40 million people are in slavery worldwide.
They are taken to brothels and cannabis farms, but also the places we all use - nailbars, carwashes, hotels, factories, warehouses, farms.
We all contribute to the demand for slaves.

BewareTheLibrarians · 22/01/2023 01:27

@Aintaintaword agree that foster accommodation (esp group accommodation) also isn’t 100% safe. The problem with hotels in this case is that the “targets” are all in the same place, may be more likely to be between schools/not yet in education, potentially less supervised if they’re in accommodation that’s geared towards adults and more at risk of unknown adults entering/waiting outside. And I absolutely agree that the foster placements for UASC are not anywhere near enough in number. I don’t have any hopes that the government are doing anything to fix that though.

BewareTheLibrarians · 22/01/2023 01:38

It’s worth everyone being aware of any potential trafficking in your community as well. It’s not easy to spot, but if you have any concerns contact the police on 101 or Modern Slavery Helpline who can give you advice/help with referrals.
www.modernslaveryhelpline.org