Legal challenges have been launched against the Home Office over the closure of asylum hotels, with families reporting that they are being moved at short notice into cramped and unsuitable accommodation. One mother, Huda, a 41-year-old engineering graduate from Tunisia who fled death threats from her extended family, said her 12-year-old daughter, who uses a wheelchair and has epilepsy and a heart condition, is now sleeping on the floor of their new hotel room.
Families Moved at Short Notice
Huda and her two children, aged 10 and 12, had been living in two rooms at a Staycity hotel in London for six months when they were given just a few days' notice to move. The Home Office decided to close the hotel as part of a government pledge to move asylum seekers out of hotels and into military barracks or shared housing. The move followed protests by anti-migrant activists who argued that hotels were too luxurious for asylum seekers.
On 25 June, the Home Office announced the closure of 20 hotels, following an earlier closure of 11 hotels this year. When asylum hotels close, residents are either moved to other hotels, sent to military barracks, or granted asylum. However, legal challenges have been filed on behalf of some residents, citing a failure to assess individual vulnerabilities before the mass evictions.
Court Orders and Inadequate Accommodation
A court order from John Halford, sitting as a deputy high court judge, stated that it is “arguable” the home secretary failed to consider the “adequacy” of the accommodation asylum seekers were moved to from Staycity. Huda described her family's ordeal: “I have so many different medical supplies just to keep my daughter alive that they take up almost one room on their own.” The family waited in reception from 10am to 7pm for transport to their new hotel, which Huda described as “much worse.”
“My children and I are dying little by little here. My daughter is sleeping on the floor because she is scared of the bunk bed. The new place is so cramped and there is nowhere to cook for my children,” she said.
Legal and Support Worker Criticisms
Ralitsa Peykova, a solicitor at Deighton Pierce Glynn, the firm mounting the legal challenges, said the government's hotel closures had been “complete chaos and a waste of taxpayers’ money.” She added, “We have had to issue urgent legal proceedings because our clients are being moved from one hotel to another without any evaluative assessment of their needs.”
Chloe White, executive director of Action for Refugees in Lewisham, which supports families moved out of Staycity, said that while the Home Office talks about the success of increased hotel closures, “the reality on the ground is very different and the human cost is high.” She noted that families are being “ripped away from communities, support systems and specialist care at short notice.”
Individual Stories of Suffering
Huda added: “The room in the new hotel they have moved us to is so small I have to change my daughter’s nappies in the corridor. Her medicine needs to be stored in a fridge but we don’t have one in the new place. I’m worried I won’t be able to keep her alive.”
Another asylum seeker, Farhad, was handed a Post-it note saying he was being moved the following day with no reason given. “The Home Office just don’t care what happens to us,” he said. “I know one person at the hotel who was in the middle of chemotherapy treatment for cancer who has been moved far away from the hospital they were receiving treatment at.”
Farhad, a victim of trafficking, torture, and labour exploitation, has been diagnosed with PTSD and depression. He said, “The Home Office don’t take people’s suffering into account. The hotel the Home Office has put me in will probably close soon and then I’ll be moved again. They moved me away from where I was receiving treatment for my mental health problems.”
Second Mother Challenges Move
A second mother is legally challenging the Home Office decision to move her and her sons 549 miles to Aberdeen, two days before one of her son's vital A-level exams. The interruption to her son's education has left the family distraught.
Home Office Response
A Home Office spokesperson said: “This government will close every asylum hotel, and work is well under way to move asylum seekers into more suitable accommodation. The welfare of asylum seekers remains a priority, and we will continue to work closely with providers to ensure that additional needs are accommodated and to minimise disruption wherever possible.” Some names have been changed.
