Latest news with #missingstudents
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
La Passerelle students reported missing nearly 300 times
Students from a school set up to support children with additional needs have been reported missing to the police by their parents and carers 291 times between September 2023 and January Passerelle was set up to support students who struggle to attend mainstream school because of a range of issues such as high anxiety.A parent, who we are calling Paul to protect the identity of his child, said the school's decision to mix neurodiverse children with children who have been in trouble with the law was leading to students going missing and taking part in anti-social Passerelle and education minister Deputy Rob Ward said no students have been reported missing from the school during the day, but if pupils leave the school site, staff will follow the pupil and keep them in sight until their parents arrive. The States of Jersey Police declined an interview request and were unable to tell the BBC how many students the 291 incidents related to.A separate BBC Freedom of information request found that there are 61 pupils at La Passerelle secondary and 15 students at the primary school. Paul's child has autism and joined La Passerelle after struggling in mainstream education because of their and his wife were told La Passerelle would provide a caring, nurturing environment for their child but he said: "It's turned into a nightmare and we bitterly regret putting them into the school."Paul explained that after a few weeks at the school his child went from being "mild mannered to being confrontational with authority". 'A toxic mix' Paul said his child became friends with children who had been in trouble with the law and because of their autism they would "mimic behaviour to fit in".Paul felt the decision to put children with different complex needs in one small school led to a "toxic mix".He said: "The children who had been in trouble with the law had a huge influence on the neurodiverse children including my child."The children who had criminal behaviours, their way of getting their fix was to be chased by the police, to be out overnight… to get reported missing by their parents and carers, and they encouraged other students to come out with them." Paul said his child would often go missing with other students after school but there were several occasions where they went missing from school premises during the said: "Some of the students who were suspended were actually coming up to the school to actively encourage other students who were in school to go missing and that happened a couple of times with my child."Another parent told the BBC her child and other children were going missing both during and after school hours. She said her child started to go missing after becoming friends with children who had been in trouble with the law. When asked if their child should be taking more responsibility for their own behaviour, Paul said: "It's well-known that some autistic children do go missing, they do get involved in anti-social behaviour, they have no idea or consequences of what they are actually doing."For us as parents it's a daily battle to protect our child from the behaviour they become involved with. We have even moved house but it's made little difference." Paul thinks the education department needs to be doing more to help neurodiverse children: "There are a lot of parents in similar situations to us who are just pulling our hair out with education."Education are not listening to us or our children and they're not providing the right environment for our children to flourish and to be educated." The school and the minister for education and life long learning declined to do an interview but they sent the BBC a joint said: "No students have been 'missing' or 'reported missing' by school during the school day from La Passerelle."Non-attendance is recorded when pupils do not arrive at school and following a multi-agency update, school will then be made aware that the pupils have been reported as missing."Parents are always notified if pupils leave the school site, and the staff will support by following the pupil and keeping them in sight until their parents and carers are able to arrive."All pupils who attend La Passerelle have neurodiverse needs and staff work alongside parents, carers and partner agencies to ensure each pupil's individual needs are met."
CNN
16-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Retired judge arrested over 2014 disappearance of 43 students in Mexico
Over a decade after 43 students from a rural teaching college vanished in southern Mexico, a new arrest has stirred fresh scrutiny and reopened old wounds. On Thursday, Mexican authorities detained now-retired judge, 79-year-old Lambertina Galeana Marín, over missing evidence in the case. The arrest is related to the 'disappearance of recordings from cameras' placed in the Palace of Justice in Iguala, in the Mexican State of Guerrero, where the students were last seen. Marín served as the president of the Superior Court of Justice of Guerrero at the time of the case. Arrest warrants were issued in August of 2022 for military commanders, police officers, and 'five administrative and judicial authorities from the state of Guerrero,' though at the time, the Attorney General's Office (FGR) did not identify the individuals allegedly involved. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about Marin's arrest in Friday morning press conference. She said that the special prosecutor's office is investigating why videos related to the case were erased, an issue she noted families of those who disappeared in 2014 have been raising for a long time. Sheinbaum replaced Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2024, who left the presidency without fulfilling a key pledge to uncover the truth regarding the 2014 disappearances of 43 students. The case of the missing students has long gripped Mexico. The students, all males at the local Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College, were traveling through the southwestern city of Iguala on September 26, 2014 when their bus was stopped by local police and military forces. Exactly what transpired after that interaction is still unknown, but photos from the scene show a bullet-riddled bus. A government report from 2022 concluded that the vanished students were victims of 'state sponsored crime.' In 2023, a report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico found that Mexico's Armed Forces did not provide all the information requested by an independent panel investigating the disappearance. That same year, experts on that panel looking into the case quit, citing 'lack of information,' 'secrecy' and 'hidden evidence' surrounding their investigative efforts. For grieving families, the arrest reinforces suspicions of a possible cover-up related to the 2014 disappearances. Felipe de la Cruz, one of the Ayotzinapa parents and spokesperson for the group of parents of the disappeared, told CNN on Thursday that a 'pact of silence continues to reign' in the area. 'For us, it is very important that first of all, the investigation continues, and that work continues to be done,' de la Cruz added.
CNN
16-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Retired judge arrested over 2014 disappearance of 43 students in Mexico
Over a decade after 43 students from a rural teaching college vanished in southern Mexico, a new arrest has stirred fresh scrutiny and reopened old wounds. On Thursday, Mexican authorities detained now-retired judge, 79-year-old Lambertina Galeana Marín, over missing evidence in the case. The arrest is related to the 'disappearance of recordings from cameras' placed in the Palace of Justice in Iguala, in the Mexican State of Guerrero, where the students were last seen. Marín served as the president of the Superior Court of Justice of Guerrero at the time of the case. Arrest warrants were issued in August of 2022 for military commanders, police officers, and 'five administrative and judicial authorities from the state of Guerrero,' though at the time, the Attorney General's Office (FGR) did not identify the individuals allegedly involved. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about Marin's arrest in Friday morning press conference. She said that the special prosecutor's office is investigating why videos related to the case were erased, an issue she noted families of those who disappeared in 2014 have been raising for a long time. Sheinbaum replaced Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2024, who left the presidency without fulfilling a key pledge to uncover the truth regarding the 2014 disappearances of 43 students. The case of the missing students has long gripped Mexico. The students, all males at the local Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College, were traveling through the southwestern city of Iguala on September 26, 2014 when their bus was stopped by local police and military forces. Exactly what transpired after that interaction is still unknown, but photos from the scene show a bullet-riddled bus. A government report from 2022 concluded that the vanished students were victims of 'state sponsored crime.' In 2023, a report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico found that Mexico's Armed Forces did not provide all the information requested by an independent panel investigating the disappearance. That same year, experts on that panel looking into the case quit, citing 'lack of information,' 'secrecy' and 'hidden evidence' surrounding their investigative efforts. For grieving families, the arrest reinforces suspicions of a possible cover-up related to the 2014 disappearances. Felipe de la Cruz, one of the Ayotzinapa parents and spokesperson for the group of parents of the disappeared, told CNN on Thursday that a 'pact of silence continues to reign' in the area. 'For us, it is very important that first of all, the investigation continues, and that work continues to be done,' de la Cruz added.
CNN
16-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Retired judge arrested over 2014 disappearance of 43 students in Mexico
Over a decade after 43 students from a rural teaching college vanished in southern Mexico, a new arrest has stirred fresh scrutiny and reopened old wounds. On Thursday, Mexican authorities detained now-retired judge, 79-year-old Lambertina Galeana Marín, over missing evidence in the case. The arrest is related to the 'disappearance of recordings from cameras' placed in the Palace of Justice in Iguala, in the Mexican State of Guerrero, where the students were last seen. Marín served as the president of the Superior Court of Justice of Guerrero at the time of the case. Arrest warrants were issued in August of 2022 for military commanders, police officers, and 'five administrative and judicial authorities from the state of Guerrero,' though at the time, the Attorney General's Office (FGR) did not identify the individuals allegedly involved. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about Marin's arrest in Friday morning press conference. She said that the special prosecutor's office is investigating why videos related to the case were erased, an issue she noted families of those who disappeared in 2014 have been raising for a long time. Sheinbaum replaced Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2024, who left the presidency without fulfilling a key pledge to uncover the truth regarding the 2014 disappearances of 43 students. The case of the missing students has long gripped Mexico. The students, all males at the local Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College, were traveling through the southwestern city of Iguala on September 26, 2014 when their bus was stopped by local police and military forces. Exactly what transpired after that interaction is still unknown, but photos from the scene show a bullet-riddled bus. A government report from 2022 concluded that the vanished students were victims of 'state sponsored crime.' In 2023, a report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico found that Mexico's Armed Forces did not provide all the information requested by an independent panel investigating the disappearance. That same year, experts on that panel looking into the case quit, citing 'lack of information,' 'secrecy' and 'hidden evidence' surrounding their investigative efforts. For grieving families, the arrest reinforces suspicions of a possible cover-up related to the 2014 disappearances. Felipe de la Cruz, one of the Ayotzinapa parents and spokesperson for the group of parents of the disappeared, told CNN on Thursday that a 'pact of silence continues to reign' in the area. 'For us, it is very important that first of all, the investigation continues, and that work continues to be done,' de la Cruz added.
