A TikTok video has emerged showing men believed to be migrants celebrating their arrival in the UK with a party in a hotel room. The clip, which appears to have been filmed in a Holiday Inn, shows around ten people with food and drink laid out on a towel, including popcorn, biscuits, sliced bananas, bottled water, Pepsi, and Irn-Bru. The video is overlaid with emojis of upturned palms, the Union Flag, and a party face, along with the Arabic phrase 'alhamdulillah' meaning 'praise be to God'.
The Home Office told The Express that the video shows no evidence of illegal or malicious activity, and there is nothing to suggest that the people in the clip are asylum seekers or that it took place in asylum accommodation. The TikTok account is believed to belong to a Sudanese man, whose profile suggests he travelled to Britain from Africa after living in Egypt for five years, according to the Daily Mail.
The Mail reported that his content indicates he reached Britain by 'unconventional' means, including a clip from May 17 showing him and others on a large boat wearing life jackets with an Italian flag emoji. The vessel is thought to be the Solidaire, a rescue boat operating in the Mediterranean. Subsequent videos showed the man on a beach near Genoa and later in Paris, before a post on November 11 with the caption: 'Last but not least, the destination was successfully reached.'
Around 36,000 asylum seekers were housed in UK hotels at the end of September, with the Home Office stating fewer than 200 hotels are now in use. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced plans to end the duty to support all destitute asylum seekers and begin evicting people from hotels in the spring, targeting those who could support themselves, have a right to work, break the law, or refuse to leave the UK.
