UK govt says scores of child asylum-seekers are missing

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government says scores of children who arrived in Britain as asylum-seekers have disappeared. Opposition parties and children’s advocates have responded by accusing the government of putting vulnerable young people in danger. Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said Tuesday that more than 200 children under 18 are missing from government-approved accommodation. He said most are teenage boys from Albania. The Observer newspaper this week reported that dozens of youngsters had been abducted off the street outside a hotel in the seaside town of Brighton. The opposition Labour Party accused the government of “a total dereliction of duty.” Jenrick said he hadn’t seen evidence of children being abducted off the street but would investigate.