Forty refugees in standoff with Home Office over cramped London lodge
Some 40 asylum seekers staged a protest exterior the lodging in Pimlico on Wednesday and Thursday evening after they had been allegedly requested to bunk “four to a room”.
They had been nonetheless tenting on the entrance on Friday morning, and small suitcases and bin baggage stuffed with possessions might be seen strewn throughout the road exterior the property close to Victoria Station.
Up to 30 people in the group had already spent at least one night on the street after rejecting “unsuitable” lodging in Whitechapel earlier this week, earlier than being moved to the central London B&B.
The livid chief of Westminster Council, Adam Hug, wrote to the Home Secretary demanding to know why the city corridor was not knowledgeable the “vulnerable group” had been being moved to the borough.
He mentioned: “We are very concerned to see a number of refugees still out on the street since Wednesday night, still seemingly without a safe and welcoming place to stay.
“Our groups have been conscious of this concern for the reason that early hours of Thursday morning, and we’ve got continued to supply no matter help we are able to.
“We have been in constant contact with Home Office officials and despite reassurances that the issue has been resolved, that does not appear to be the case.”
In a letter to Suella Braverman, Mr Hug mentioned his council had been “met with minimal, or in this case no communication whatsoever” from the Home Office when asylum seekers had been moved into the borough.
He added that the Government risked placing residents and migrants at risk.
“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,” he wrote.
“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.”
Charity staff mentioned as much as 30 of the group had been moved from a hostel in Whitechapel, where some were allegedly told they needed to share single rooms with four people, without beds or bedding.
The refugees included a young child, according to Abdi Hassan, founder of Coffee Afrik, an outreach charity working in east London. They had been moved from a hotel in Ilford, he said.
“Some of them entered [the property], but a group of them didn’t, because they were being asked to share single rooms with four other people. Some of the rooms didn’t have beds or bedding,” Mr Hassan told the Standard.
“So I don’t know what they were expecting, them to bunker down in sleeping bags? There was no provision for those that decided to sleep outside the hostel, including a child who’s no older than three.”
A Home Office spokesman mentioned the Government anticipated the “highest standards from our accommodation providers” and spoke to them each day about efficiency.
They added: “Despite the variety of individuals arriving within the UK reaching report ranges, we proceed to supply lodging – at a price of £6million a day – for asylum seekers who would in any other case be destitute to satisfy our authorized obligation.
“The lodging provided to asylum seekers by suppliers, on a no alternative foundation, is of a good commonplace and meets all authorized and contractual necessities.”