SOCIAL workers and foster families are calling for an independent inquiry after it emerged staff employed by the Home Office forced refugee children to play a game to guess who would be the next one to be placed in foster care.

In a letter published by The Guardian, the British Association of Social Workers, the Fostering Network, the Refugee Council and Every Chid Protected Against Trafficking (ECPAT) are among 20 bodies saying children are being failed due to the current Home Office system.

The letter reads: “In our work with refugee children, we repeatedly see how they are being failed.

“Hundreds of unaccompanied children missing from hotels still have not been found. Children systematically wrongly age-assessed are treated as adults and placed in the same bedrooms as unrelated adult strangers.

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“There is a culture of callous disregard for children’s basic right to dignity. It is time for the Government to carry out a wide-ranging independent inquiry into the treatment of unaccompanied children who come to our country seeking safety.”

The Home Office launched its own internal inquiry after the “game” was disclosed on Thursday by a report on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children written by the sacked borders watchdog David Neal.

An inspector working for Neal at one of four hotels where dozens of children were living was shocked to hear they were gathered together when one of their number was to be placed with a foster family.

The report said: “One team leader described the process by which they would disclose to the children who would be he next to leave for a placement.

“This involved ‘making a game of it,’ asking them to guess who would be next, before revealing their name.

“Inspectors considered this to be insensitive in the extreme and undoubtedly upsetting their children.”

In the reinspection of four hotels where children were being housed, the borders inspector found there was no guarantee staff were given regular disclosure and barring services clearances.

In evidence to the reinspection, the Home Office reported 147 children had left the hotels without supervision and remained unaccounted for between July 2021 and September 8 2023.

Neal was sacked as independent inspector of borders and immigration after disclosing details of some 15 reports that he had submitted up to 11 months ago.

Thirteen of the reports – totalling 900 pages – were released on Thursday, the same day as the Sarah Everard report, immigration statistics and a National Audit Office revealing the cost of the Rwanda scheme.

It led to Labour accusing the Home Office of attempting to bury bad news.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “The safety and welfare of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is our utmost priority.

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“After the inspections finding, we launched a full investigation into the inappropriate behaviour of the support worker, who was removed from the site immediately and did not return.

“Since the two independent chief inspector of Borders and Immigration inspections in 2022 and 2023, we have closed all seven hotels used to accommodate unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.”