As scores of youngsters are disappearing from hotels run by the Home Office and being trafficked across the country, sources claims warnings over their safety were ignored
On the first day of April, 17-year-old Wassim Hamam* disappeared near the bustling centre of Hove. He was never seen again. Days later another teenager, Burim Markaj, 16, vanished nearby. Within hours, a 15-year-old was also reported missing.
The disappearances continued. Four days later Alban Berisha, a 17-year-old whose portrait suggests a pensive, wary character, suddenly vanished from the streets of the Sussex coastal city. The same day, a 5ft 5in 17-year-old, Khalid Muha, was last seen wearing a black bomber jacket and white trainers.
Revealed: scores of child asylum seekers kidnapped from Home Office hotel
Another child went, then another. Detectives investigating the disappearances quickly identified two facts linking the lengthening caseload: all were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. And all disappeared after staying at the same hotel. But this was no ordinary seaside hotel. The children were staying in a residence run by the Home Office, the government department whose mandate is keeping people safe.