A group of asylum seekers have spent two nights sleeping rough in London over cramped hotel conditions, a council leader has claimed.
Adam Hug, who heads up Westminster City Council, says the refugees refuse to enter a Pimlico hotel where the Home Office had asked them to sleep “four people per room.”
proIn a letter to Home Secretary Suella Braverman, the Labour councillor expressed his “deep concern” that around 40 refugees were placed in the borough on Wednesday night “without appropriate accommodation or support available” and no prior communication with the local authority.
On Friday morning, around 20 people remained outside the Comfort Inn in protest at the conditions inside, according to the council, with pictures showing suitcases and blankets strewn across the pavement.
Hug complained that asking people who “are likely to have been through significant and traumatic events” to share “an inappropriately-sized room with multiple strangers defies common sense and basic decency.”
He said the government’s demand created “safeguarding and health risks”, and noted that “leaving them on the street for multiple nights is not an alternative”.
‘Not Properly Managed’
In his letter to Braverman on Thursday, he wrote: “Neither the Home Office nor the hotel itself responded to this incident, ultimately leaving it to council officers to manage and support this large group overnight.“I would ask that you urgently clarify how this was allowed to happen, why this was acceptable, and why no communication was made with the local authority to alert us.
“I note that the issue is still unresolved and, as of Thursday evening, all 40 asylum seekers remain on the street. This is not acceptable.
“It is not right, nor is it in the interest of these individuals—or our residents—to have them forced to endure a night on the streets because their transition into new accommodation has not been properly managed.”
Rough sleeping teams have been supporting the refugees, according to the council, which claimed the Home Office had not put forward any resolution to the matter.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Despite the number of people arriving in the UK reaching record levels, we continue to provide accommodation—at a cost of £6 million a day—for asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute, to meet our legal obligation. The accommodation offered to asylum seekers by providers, on a no-choice basis, is of a decent standard and meets all legal and contractual requirements.”
Refugee Barges
The government is currently preparing to move around 500 asylum seekers from hotel accommodation to a new purpose-built 222-bedroom barge off the English coast.The three-story Bibby Stockholm barge arrived in UK waters last month where it is currently under inspection and refitting in Falmouth, Cornwall.
It is imminently expected to move to its final position in Portland Port off Dorset’s coastal town of Weymouth.
Labour MP Mick Whitley criticised the government proposals, accusing Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick of ignoring repeated requests to respond to serious community concerns.
Jenrick confirmed that the Home Office is in talks with Wirral Council over the plans, but that no deal had been done as yet.
He described the housing of asylum seekers on sites such as former military bases, ships, and barges as “undoubtedly” in the national interest and “in step” with Northern European counterparts.
The plans are part of a series of schemes devised by the government aimed at moving asylum seekers away from costly hotel accommodation, which costs the British taxpayer £6 million a day.
