An asylum seeker, accused of raping a teenage boy, has “gone missing” while being transferred to a new hotel booked by the Home Office.
According to Conservative MP Greg Smith, the man was moved to a hotel in Buckinghamshire, but Metropolitan Police officers did not escort him inside – at which point he went missing.
The 39-year-old was being moved from a hotel in Waltham Forest, London, after officers received reports of a rape.
Last night saw MPs and councillors raising concerns over the blunder that allowed the suspect to disappear, blasting it as “wholly unacceptable”.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick promised to urgently investigate the “very concerning” incident, after it was raised in the House of Commons by Mr Smith.
The asylum seeker is currently on bail pending further inquiries and is required to return to the police station in early January.
A spokesperson for the Met Police said that responsibility for his accommodation lay with the Home Office.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said reports about the man going missing were “very serious” and “raise some questions” about the Home Office’s handling of it.
The issue arises amid widespread scrutiny of the housing conditions migrants are held in while their asylum claims are being processed.
The session in the House of Commons saw concerns raised by MPs over the proliferation of crime as a result of asylum seekers being taken to accommodation around the country.
Conservative MP Marco Longhi added that the treatment of migrants “forms a complete and utter mockery of our border control systems”.
The above summary was derived from the story linked below
Source: Refugee rape suspect disappears in Buckinghamshire after ‘unacceptable’ hotel transfer
