Numbers of Asylum-Seeking Children Reported as Missing 2019 to 2021
Keywords
Asylum, Seeking, Children, Reported, Missing, Hours, Length, Time, Unaccounted, Unaccompanied, UASC, Temporary, Accommodation, Hotel, B&B, Local, Authority, Care, Home, Foster, Care, Reports, Flagged.
Publication Number
PUB 1077
FOI Reference Number
16640
Request Title
Numbers of Asylum-Seeking Children Reported as Missing 2019 to 2021
Date Range
2019 to 2021
Information Requested
With regards to children reported missing to your police force, please provide the following:
• How many asylum-seeking children were reported as missing for over 72 hours to your police force in each calendar year 2021, 2020, 2019? Please provide information on the total length of time they were missing for before being found.
• How many remain missing/unaccounted for?
• In each calendar year 2021, 2020, 2019, how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) have been reported missing from temporary accommodation such as a hotel or B&B OR were last seen at a hotel or B&B?
• In each calendar year 2021, 2020, 2019, how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) have been reported missing from local authority care (such as a children’s home or foster care)?
Disclosure with Exemptions
Full Disclosure
Information Correct as at
26 January 2022
Date of Disclosure
11 February 2022
Related Documents/Links
FOI 16640 Response
Having completed enquiries within Essex Police in respect of Section 1(1)(a), Essex Police does hold information relating to your request, Essex Police can confirm in respect of Section 1(1)(b) the following data:
Caveats:
The data is correct as at 26 January 2022.
Essex Police can search for missing reports of UASC, however, they will only show up IF they were flagged correctly in the first place, which means there could be some discrepancies in the data.
‘Children’ Definition - Anyone Under the Age of 18.
How many asylum-seeking children were reported as missing for over 72 hours to your police force in each calendar year 2021, 2020, 2019? Please provide information on the total length of time they were missing for before being found.
2019 – 2:
1. Still missing (899 days).
2. 1d 3h 30m.
2020 – 4:
1. 5 days 3h 39m.
2. Missing twice. First occasion missing for 103 days 20h 26m. Second occasion still missing (485 days).
3. Still missing (462 days 16h 45m).
4. (This is the same person who is number 2 for 2019) 55 days 10h. Also, another episode of 401 days 14h 3m.
2021 – 7
1. Missing twice. First occasion 3 days 14h 22m. Second occasion 110 days 15h.
2. Still missing (124 days 20h 11m).
3. Still missing (286 days 21h 22m).
4. Still missing (74 days 2h 53m).
5. 18 days.
6. Missing twice. First occasion 2 days 20h 50m. Second occasion 4 days 23h 45m.
7. Missing 3 times. First occasion 642 days 17h 26m. Second occasion 2 days 23h 25m. Third occasion 22 days 0h 15m.
How many remain missing/unaccounted for?
2019 – 1.
2020 – 2.
2021 – 3.
In each calendar year 2021, 2020, 2019, how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) have been reported missing from temporary accommodation such as a hotel or B&B OR were last seen at a hotel or B&B?
2019 – 0.
2020 – 0.
2021 – 0.
In each calendar year 2021, 2020, 2019, how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) have been reported missing from local authority care (such as a children’s home or foster care)?
2019 – 2.
2020 – 4.
2021 – 7.
Essex Police can neither confirm nor deny that it holds any other information relevant to this request, as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the FOIA does not apply by virtue of Section 23(5) Information Supplied by or Concerning Certain Security Bodies.
Section 23 is a class based absolute exemption and there is no requirement to consider the public interest in this case. Confirming or denying the existence of whether any other information is held would contravene the constrictions laid out within Section 23 in that this stipulates a generic bar on disclosure of any information applied by, or concerning, certain Security Bodies.
Every effort is made to ensure that the data provided by Essex Police is accurate and complete. However, Essex Police systems are designed primarily for the management of individual cases and not for the purposes of providing data to answer specific FOI enquiries. Please note although data can be extracted from a number of sources via database queries, the results may be subject to inaccuracies. Care should be taken to understand our return when considering the interpretation or further use of the data.
The Force Information Management Board chaired by the Deputy Chief Constable has oversight of the Force wide programme of work to improve the quality of Force data. This work has identified data quality leads in all key areas of the business including the Crime and Public Protection Command. Liaison between the Force Data Quality Team and the Crime and Public Protection Command lead for data quality will identify and resolve issues through a variety of mechanisms to ensure regular and appropriate supervisory oversight.