A BBC Spotlight investigation has discovered that eight separated migrant children have gone missing in Northern Ireland while in the care of the authorities.

Information gathered by the programme through freedom of information requests found that since 2010 health trusts across Northern Ireland have encountered 49 separated migrant children (that is children who are outside their home country and separated from their parents or legal guardians. Some, of these children will be seeking asylum or trafficked.)

According to Northern Ireland’s Health and Social Care Board eight such children have gone missing since 2005 and remain unaccounted for, although the Board has stated that no children have gone missing since 2014.

Children who are separated from their parents and in a foreign country are extremely vulnerable. Some may have been brought to Northern Ireland for the purpose of exploitation (which makes them victims of trafficking) and run away from local authority care because of threats or deception by their exploiters, but they all are at serious risk of exploitation by criminal individuals or gangs as they try to survive independently having gone missing from care.

Key to protecting these children from exploitation is helping them build relationships of trust so they feel safe and able to engage with the authorities whether that is social workers, immigration officials or police officers. International evidence has shown that providing children with a specialist independent guardian is vital to giving children that stability in the midst of change. The independent guardian is someone who does not just come alongside the child, accompanying them through the different meetings and processes but will also speak on their behalf and in their best interests as decisions are made about the child’s care and future.

Independent Guardians alone cannot prevent children going missing, but they can build children’s trust and confidence. They can also help ensure that these children are provided with the best possible care, including safe and supervised accommodation which is vital to preventing children’s disappearance.

The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 includes a provision requiring the Northern Ireland Executive to establish a system of Independent Guardians to work with all separated migrant children. The Department for Health in Northern Ireland which is responsible for introducing the scheme carried out a consultation earlier in the year, however the final details were not approved by the Northern Ireland Assembly before the May elections.

CARE in Northern Ireland urges the new Minister for Health to make implementing section 21 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 a priority for her first months in office and make Independent Guardians available to all separated children in Northern Ireland as soon as possible.