‘Routine’ housing of unaccompanied child asylum seekers in hotels is unlawful, High Court rules
The “routine” housing of unaccompanied child asylum seekers in hotels by the Home Office is unlawful, the High Court has ruled.
The charity, Every Child Protected Against Trafficking (ECPAT), brought legal action against the Home Office over the practice of housing unaccompanied youngsters in Home Office hotels – claiming the arrangements are “not fit for purpose”.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Chamberlain said the use of hotels for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children has become unlawful.
He told the court the power to place children in hotels “may be used on very short periods in true emergency situations”.
The judge added: “It cannot be used systematically or routinely in circumstances where it is intended, or functions in practice, as a substitute for local authority care.”
He said the use of hotels cannot be seen as an “emergency” measure given the length of their use.
“From December 2021 at the latest, the practice of accommodating children in hotels, outside local authority care, was both systematic and routine and had become an established part of the procedure for dealing with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children,” the judge said.
“From that point on, the home secretary’s provision of hotel accommodation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children exceeded the proper limits of her powers and was unlawful.
“There is a range of options open to the home secretary to ensure that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are accommodated and looked after as envisaged by parliament. It is for her to decide how to do so.”
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Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s provision of hotels for asylum-seeking children ‘was unlawful’, the judge ruled
Kent County Council acting unlawfully in failing to accommodate children
ECPAT’s bid was heard in London alongside similar claims brought by Brighton and Hove City Council and Kent County Council against the department.
The Home Office and Department for Education had opposed the legal challenges and said the hotel use was lawful but was “deployed effectively as a ‘safety net’ and as a matter of necessity”.
As well as finding the Home Office’s use of hotels to house child asylum seekers unlawful, the judge said Kent County Council is acting unlawfully in failing to accommodate and look after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
He said: “In ceasing to accept responsibility for some newly arriving unaccompanied asylum seeking children, while continuing to accept other children into its care, Kent County Council chose to treat some unaccompanied asylum seeking children differently from and less favourably than other children, because of their status as asylum seekers.”
The court heard at the time of the hearing in the claims earlier this month, 154 children remained missing from the hotels, including a 12-year-old.
The judge said: “Neither Kent County Council nor the home secretary knows where these children are, or whether they are safe or well. There is evidence that some have been persuaded to join gangs seeking to exploit them for criminal purposes.
“These children have been lost and endangered here, in the United Kingdom. They are not children in care who have run away. They are children who, because of how they came to be here, never entered the care system in the first place and so were never ‘looked after’.”
The judge added: “Ensuring the safety and welfare of children with no adult to look after them is among the most fundamental duties of any civilised state.”
Patricia Durr, chief executive of ECPAT, said following the ruling: “It remains a child protection scandal that so many of the most vulnerable children remain missing at risk of significant harm as a consequence of these unlawful actions by the Secretary of State and Kent County Council.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The High Court has upheld that local authorities have a statutory duty to care for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. We have always maintained that the best place for unaccompanied children to be accommodated is within a local authority.
“However, due to the unsustainable rise in illegal Channel crossings, the government has had no option but to accommodate young people in hotels on a temporary basis while placements with local authorities are urgently found.”
Politics
Met Police launches investigation into suspended Reform MP Rupert Lowe over ‘verbal threats’
The Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation into suspended Reform MP Rupert Lowe.
It comes after the party revealed they had referred him to police and stripped him of the whip on Friday, alleging he made “verbal threats” against chairman Zia Yousaf – which Mr Lowe denies.
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A spokesperson for the Met told Sky News they have now launched an investigation “into an allegation of a series of verbal threats made by a 67-year-old man”.
They added: “Our original statement referred to alleged threats made in December 2024. We would like to clarify that when this matter was reported to us, it referred to a series of alleged threats made between December 2024 and February 2025.
“Further enquiries are ongoing at this stage.”
In response to the update, Mr Lowe said he was unaware of the specific allegations but denied wrongdoing.
“I have instructed lawyers to represent me in this matter,” he said.
“My lawyers have made contact with the Met Police, and have made them aware of my willingness to co-operate in any necessary investigation.
“My lawyers have not yet received any contact from the police. It is highly unusual for the police to disclose anything to the media at this stage of an investigation.
“I remain unaware of the specific allegations, but in any event, I deny any wrongdoing.
“The allegations are entirely untrue.”
Why was Rupert Lowe suspended?
In a statement on Friday, Reform claimed it had received evidence from staff of “derogatory and discriminating remarks made about women” by Mr Lowe, 67, who was elected to his Great Yarmouth seat last year.
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Reform UK row: Who said what?
The statement also claimed Mr Lowe had “on at least two occasions made threats of physical violence” against Mr Yusuf and “accordingly, this matter is with the police”.
Mr Lowe denied the claims, describing them as “vexatious” and said it was “no surprise” that it had come a day after he raised “reasonable and constructive questions” about Reform leader Nigel Farage.
In an interview with the Daily Mail on Thursday, Mr Lowe had said Reform remains a “protest party led by the Messiah” under the Clacton MP.
Asked whether he thought the former UKIP leader had the potential to become prime minister, as his supporters have suggested, Mr Lowe said: “It’s too early to know whether Nigel will deliver the goods. He can only deliver if he surrounds himself with the right people.”
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He also claimed that he was “barely six months into being an MP” himself and “in the betting to be the next prime minister”.
War of words escalates
Those words could have struck a nerve with Mr Farage after Elon Musk, the Tesla and Space X billionaire who has become one of Donald Trump’s closest allies, suggested the Reform leader “doesn’t have what it takes” and that Mr Lowe should take over.
The pair launched bitter personal attacks on each other in articles for the Sunday Telegraph, with Mr Farage accusing Mr Lowe of falling out with all his fellow Reform MPs due to “outbursts” and “inappropriate” language.
He also quoted Labour minister Mike Kane, who said after a confrontation with Mr Lowe in the Commons that his anger “showed a man not in charge of his own faculties”.
In his article, Mr Lowe repeated his claim there is no credible evidence against him, said he was the victim of a “witch hunt” and the Reform UK leadership was unable even to accept the most mild constructive criticism.
US lawmakers are set for a heated debate on stablecoin regulation, with key industry leaders expected to outline their vision for the future of digital asset oversight.
Charles Cascarilla, co-founder and CEO of stablecoin issuer Paxos, is scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee, where he will urge lawmakers to establish “cross-jurisdictional reciprocity” in stablecoin regulations.
In his prepared testimony, Cascarilla flagged concerns about the existing hurdles in the adoption of Paxos’ Global Dollar (USDG) stablecoin due to it being issued via a regulated affiliate in Singapore.
“We fear that products like Paxos’ Global Dollar (USDG) stablecoin, issued by a regulated affiliate in Singapore, will languish while departments and agencies make their determinations,” Cascarilla wrote in his speech.
US must act to prevent regulatory stablecoin arbitrage
Cascarilla recommended US lawmakers strengthen the current “international reciprocity language” to include clearly defined, accelerated timelines for the US Treasury Department to designate overseas jurisdictions for stablecoin regulation.
“This timeframe would force swift action and prevent bureaucratic delays while guaranteeing thorough scrutiny of foreign regulatory regimes,” the executive said.
Cascarilla emphasized that potential delays in applying such action would be a major hurdle in the adoption and distribution of stablecoins like USDG in the US as well as cross-border operations.
“Reciprocity is not about lowering standards — it’s about raising them globally,” Cascarilla said, adding:
“By establishing a framework to recognize jurisdictions with comparable regulatory regimes — covering reserve requirements, AML measures and cybersecurity protocols — the United States can prevent regulatory arbitrage, where issuers exploit lax oversight abroad.”
Paxos stablecoins were deemed non-compliant in the EU
Cascarilla’s remarks come amid some Paxos-issued stablecoins facing compliance issues in the European Union following the enforcement of its crypto regulation framework, Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA).
Since the MiCA framework went into full force in December 2024, multiple crypto asset service providers in the EU — including Crypto.com and Coinbase — have announced the delistings of Paxos stablecoins, including Pax Dollar (PAX) and Pax Gold (PAXG).
While Paxos’ Cascarilla is now calling for the US to take urgent action in forcing a global framework for stablecoin issuers that are regulated outside of the US, some industry CEOs have urged all stablecoin firms to get regulated domestically instead.
In February, Circle co-founder Jeremy Allaire argued that all dollar-based stablecoin issuers should register in the US, citing consumer protection and fair competition in the crypto market. He stated:
“Whether you are an offshore company or based in Hong Kong, if you want to offer your US dollar stablecoin in the US, you should register in the US just like we have to go register everywhere else.”
Issued and regulated in the US, Circle’s USDC (USDC) stablecoin was officially approved as the first MiCA-compliant stablecoin in 2024.
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The X account of Meteora co-founder Ben Chow was reported to have been hacked after it posted a tweet reigniting the controversy around the launch of the Libra (LIBRA), Melania Meme (MELANIA) and Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin tokens that ultimately led to his resignation.
On March 11, Chow’s X account posted an “official statement” about his departure from Meteora. The post called out DefiTuna founders Vlad Pozniakov and Dhirk, claiming the duo’s sole intention was to extract the maximum funds possible from various memecoin token launches, including MELANIA, Mates (MATES) and a Raydium launch.
“As a long time Solana builder, the reason I stepped down is because I am far too trusting for how parasitic the memecoin space is.”
Source: Ben Chow (Deleted post)
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However, Meteora’s official X account flagged the post as fraudulent, claiming that Chow’s X account was compromised and urged users to refrain from clicking on any links.
Chow did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. The fraudulent tweet has since been deleted after the account was recovered by Meteora.
Chow’s message contained alleged screenshots of WhatsApp conversations between Kelsier Ventures CEO Hayden Davis, Kelsier Ventures’ chief operating officer Gideon Davis, and Pozniakov discussing the MATES token, where one was quoted saying: “Yeah fellas tbh we are trying to max extract on this one.”
The legitimacy of the conversations could not be verified.
Source: Meteora
Meteora co-founder Zen, who has since taken up the role of CEO, said that Meteora’s X account was also compromised along with Chow’s:
“It’s true that someone gained access momentarily to our Meteora X account. We’ve since reset the account and now verifying.”
Investors were advised against clicking on any links shared from the accounts to avert financial losses.
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Argentine President Javier Milei is facing calls for impeachment after endorsing a Solana-native LIBRA token. Milei’s endorsement caused the token’s value to surge from near zero to $5, briefly reaching a $4 billion market capitalization.
However, a massive sell-off event followed that caused LIBRA’s value to drop rapidly, wiping out millions in investor funds in the process.
Milei dismissed rug pull allegations, claiming that he regularly promotes business projects as part of his free-market philosophy. His endorsement of the KIP Protocol, the developers behind LIBRA, was a part of the broader policy.
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