The boy of about 13 is said to have been attacked by a man at a hotel housing refugees in Waltham Forest, east London, last month. A suspect has since been arrested.
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A teenage boy was allegedly raped in by a man in his 30s while staying in a hotel housing refugees.

The boy of about 13 is said to have been attacked by a man in Waltham Forest, east London, last month. A suspect has since been arrested.

In a separate case a younger boy claimed he was sexually assaulted at the same hotel weeks earlier. 

Police said a boy, thought to be 17, had been charged with sexual touching of a child under 13. Grace Williams, leader of Waltham Forest Council, warned Home Secretary Suella Braverman: ‘I am not assured that there is a safeguarding plan in the hotel.’

A No10 spokesman said: ‘The current situation has led to huge numbers of people being accommodated in hotels. This isn’t sustainable.’

The two incidents are alleged to have taken place within weeks of each other at a hotel where 150 children are reportedly squeezed in alongside 250 adults.

The boy of about 13 is said to have been attacked by a man at a hotel housing refugees in Waltham Forest, east London, last month. A suspect has since been arrested.

The boy of about 13 is said to have been attacked by a man at a hotel housing refugees in Waltham Forest, east London, last month. A suspect has since been arrested.

The boy of about 13 is said to have been attacked by a man at a hotel housing refugees in Waltham Forest, east London, last month. A suspect has since been arrested.

Labour MP Stella Creasy called for Home Secretary Suella Braverman to resign, The Guardian reports, insisting that the Home Office was failing in its responsibility to protect migrant children.

Ms Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow, stated: ‘[Braverman] is completely unfit for office and must resign, because when children are being sexually assaulted under her watch and her response is to say she’s been on [the hotel comparison website] Trivago looking at the cost of the hotels, it demeans us all.’

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World At One, the MP added she felt ‘shocked, horrified, and physically sick’ at learning of the allegations. Ms Creasy added she had heard of similar allegations of assaults against children at other facilities.

Hotel accommodation for asylum seekers almost trebled last year, despite instistences from the Home Office that it would end its use.

But currently, the Government faces mounting pressure to house migrants away from unsafe and overcrowded immigrations centres.

In a letter to Ms Braverman, leader of Waltham Forest Council Grace Williams wrote: ‘We have continuously expressed our view that accommodating families with children in contingency hotels is detrimental to children’s wellbeing. It is now evident that it is a risk to their safety too.’

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