Exclusive:Home Office urged to bring 'immediate end' to Glasgow asylum hotels

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has been urged to signal an “immediate end” to the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers amid reports Labour is seeking to take on more room.

Fears have emerged that pressure on Glasgow in particular could be heightened, if more hotel rooms in the city are used to accommodate asylum seekers and refugees.

Protesters called for an end to the detention of asylum seekers in hotels after six people were injured in a knife attack at Park Inn Hotel in Glasgow in June 2020.

Labour vowed in its manifesto to stop housing migrants in taxpayer-funded hotels. But reports have suggested the Home Office is looking at expanding the hotels capacity and could re-open previously used facilities.

Asylum seekers could be housed in hotels for up to three years because the backlog of cases could take significantly longer than the incoming Labour government expected.

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Concerns have been raised by the Scottish Refugee Council, which has previously warned about the living conditions of people awaiting their asylum cases to be determined, raising four suicide attempts by those placed in hotels last last year. Gary Christie, head of policy, communications and communities at the Scottish Refugee Council, said: “We want to see an immediate end to the use of hotel rooms and other types of temporary accommodation used for long-term housing.

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“The idea of living in a hotel and the reality for people seeking asylum are worlds apart. Living on £1.36 a day and stripped of basic autonomy, like being able to choose what to eat for dinner or cook yourself a meal, we see first-hand how adverse an effect this type of accommodation has on people’s mental health.

“Isolated, banned from working and living in poverty, hotel living risks re-traumatising people who have already uprooted their lives to flee violence and persecution. People need a safe, secure place to call home where they can recover from these experiences and begin to rebuild their lives. This is not something a hotel room can provide.”

Leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken, said an increase in the use of hotels by the Home Office was driving asylum seekers into homelessness.

Susan Aitken

She said: “We have not been approached by the Home Office with information on whether any more asylum hotels will open in Glasgow.

“Whilst Glasgow has been greatly enriched by its role as a dispersal city over the past two decades, it is undeniable that the way in which the Home Office is now batch processing decisions followed by large scale evictions from asylum accommodation is a significant driver of a high number of refugees seeking support from homelessness services – and the city still is not receiving funding from the Home Office to support this.

“We remain willing to work with the Home Office to find a different way to process asylum claims which makes decisions quickly, limits the use of hotels, and enables asylum seekers to work.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper | Getty Images

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly.

“We are committed to speeding up the asylum process and have taken urgent action to restart processing and clear the backlog, which will save an estimated £7 billion for the taxpayer over the next ten years. 

“The government has begun delivering a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity to remove people with no right to be in the UK and ensure the rules are respected and enforced.”