The “cramped” and “dangerous” conditions discovered in asylum hotels by the BBC have offered a counterpoint to the claim by “This Morning” presenter Rylan Clark that migrants are enjoying four-star luxury.
Journalists “aren’t normally allowed inside the hotels”, wrote Sue Mitchell, but “I gained access through migrant contacts” to find out what life is really like at these contentious locations.
Are the rooms luxurious?
Clark said that migrants are taken to a “four-star hotel”, and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick previously claimed that asylum hotels are “luxurious”. But when hotels are taken over for asylum accommodation, the facilities that won them star ratings are stripped away and a security desk takes the place of reception.
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The resulting conditions can leave people “despondent and suicidal”, Nazek Ramadan, director of Migrant Voice, told The Guardian in 2023. The charity shared accounts of “filthy rooms, abusive and obstructive staff and ‘dangerously erratic’ healthcare”, and some people reported being “crammed into rooms with more than 10 strangers”.
Mitchell found residents covering smoke alarms with plastic bags so they can cook meals on electric hobs in “dangerous conditions in their rooms”, said the BBC. The cooking set-up is “illegal and unsafe”, but a resident said he would rather take the risk than consume the free hotel restaurant food, which residents have complained makes them feel unwell.
Asylum-seekers don’t always stay long in a particular hotel. A 12-year-old girl, who’s spent three-quarters of her life in the system, told the broadcaster: “Once we get settled in a place, then they move us.”
How much money are they given?
They are usually offered financial support of £49.18 per person per week, loaded onto a card, for essentials like food, clothing and toiletries. But if meals are provided with accommodation, the weekly fee drops to just £9.95 per person per week.
Additional payments are available for pregnant women or families with young children, but Ramadan at Migrant Voice discovered that many children couldn’t go to school because they “didn’t have shoes, and their parents had no way to afford them”.
Asylum seekers are not allowed to work or claim benefits while their cases are being assessed, although some told the BBC they “had no choice” but to work illegally for pay as low as £20 a day in order to pay off debts to people smugglers.
Residents may access free NHS healthcare but the Home Office does not provide iPads or mobile phones to asylum seekers, as claimed by Clark. That is a “complete myth”, Daniel Sohege, director of human rights consultancy Stand For All and a specialist in refugee law, told the Big Issue.
Why are hotels used to house asylum seekers?
Hotels are regarded as “contingency accommodation” while cases are assessed, said the Home Office, and they’re only meant to be used for asylum seekers when other housing can’t be sourced. But Oxford University’s Migration Observatory said there has been a “surge” in their use since 2020 because of asylum backlogs, housing shortages and rising rental prices.
More than 32,000 migrants are currently staying in hotel rooms, down from 51,000 in 2023. The government has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029.
Once someone gets refugee status, they can no longer stay in hotels or other asylum accommodation. They then have to pay for their rent or ask for government help – like any other UK citizen.
