Housing migrants in the United Kingdom is becoming an increasingly expensive affair. The Home Office reports that the cost of hotels for housing migrants is close to £8 million a day.
The BBC reported that some 400 hotels were being used and that was in March with costs rising daily. The Home Office which published its annual accounts on September 19 says it will “take action to address the unacceptable costs of housing migrants in hotels which is costing the taxpayer around £8m a day.”
Labour’s shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Conservatives had busted the Home Office budget, broken the asylum system and the British people were now paying the price.
The government is legally bound to provide housing to asylum seekers while their claim is being processed. They will usually be housed in hotels or hotels as a short-term measure. But the backlog of unprocessed claims has led to a huge number of people waiting and rising hotel costs.
Refugees from Afghanistan
On September 19 the government also announced that it would end migrant hotels accommodation for thousands of Afghan families in the UK.
Cabinet minister Johnny Mercer said that the government would end the use of these bridging hotels for Afghan refugees by end of August.
He said that more than 85% of the 8,000 Afghans were living in hotels in March and they have now all been moved into settled accommodation. He added that 5% of the 24,600 people who relocated from Afghanistan were now in temporary accommodation provided by the local council.
Targeted attacks
In addition to the above issues, hotels housing asylum seekers have also been attacked by demonstrators of late resulting in the government announcing the Rwanda plan in April 2022.
Under this scheme asylum seekers would be sent to Rwanda to claim asylum there.
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