Politics.co.uk

Hundreds of ‘missing’ African boys

Hundreds of ‘missing’ African boys

Hundreds of African boys have vanished from schools in London, according to the Metropolitan police.

Officers investigating the murder of a boy whose torso was found in the Thames asked the city’s education authorities how many black boys aged between four and seven had vanished.

Detective chief inspector Will O’Reilly said inquiries revealed 300 black boys had disappeared between July and September 2001.

“It is a large figure – far more than we anticipated when we started this line of inquiry,” Mr O’Reilly told the Today programme.

Of the missing boys, 299 came from Africa and one from the Caribbean.

Although there is no evidence to suggest the children have been killed, the lack of immigration records means it is impossible to trace them.