Mail Online

Teenagers go missing ‘to avoid being sent back home’

By Sam Merriman

THE father of one of 200 teenage asylumseekers missing from Home Office hotels last night admitted he disappeared so he could not be returned to Albania.

The 18-year-old talks to his father every day and is sending money earned from working on a London building site back home to North West Albania, where The Mail on Sunday tracked him down. However Orgito Luka, who was 17 when he disappeared in May last year, is still officially considered missing.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told MPs last week that of the 4,600 unaccompanied child asylum seekers who arrived in the UK since 2021, 440 had gone missing and only half had returned. Of those still missing, 186 claimed to be either 16 or 17 years old and 176 are from Albania, a safe country.

The MoS has discovered the names of a dozen Albanian teenagers who went missing from Home Office-approved hotels last year, most of whom were soon to turn 18.

Some of the names do not appear in Albanian records, suggesting they may have provided false details or errors were made. Others seem to have active social media accounts showing off designer clothes, expensive restaurants and luxury cars.

Orgito’s father Edmir is aware his son is considered missing but said he is well and living with a friend, adding that his building site was raided by immigration officers, who he managed to avoid. He said: ‘Most of the young people are like this. They did not go missing. Their relatives go and take them.’

An Albanian source said: ‘This has been happening because they know they face possible deportation when they reach 18. It has become a very big problem.’

Campaigners have expressed fears that the teenagers have been kidnapped by gangs. But a Home Office source said: ‘There is no evidence of anyone being abducted. Of those missing, 88 per cent are Albanians and 93 per cent are 16 or 17. It’s time Labour and the Left wake up to what’s happening here.’

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2023-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/282041921267647

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