A video circulating on TikTok appears to show a group of men, believed to be migrants who arrived in the UK by small boat, celebrating their arrival with a party in a hotel room suspected to be taxpayer-funded.
Inside the Hotel Room Celebration
The clip features around ten men gathered in a room decorated in a style consistent with a Holiday Inn Express, a chain known to house asylum seekers. The group is seen sitting barefoot around an improvised buffet laid out on what looks like a bath towel.
The spread included popcorn, biscuits, sliced bananas, bottled water, glasses of Pepsi and cans of Irn-Bru. The room also contained a small widescreen television. Several of the men filmed the gathering on their mobile phones, laughing and smiling throughout.
Overlaying the video was a caption featuring two upturned palm emojis, a UK flag, a party face emoji, and the Arabic phrase 'alhamdulillah', which translates to 'praise be to God'. The Daily Mail has not been able to independently verify the exact location or date the footage was filmed.
The Journey of 'Abubaker'
The video was posted by a TikTok user thought to be a Sudanese man named Abubaker. Content on his profile suggests he lived in Egypt for five years before undertaking a journey to the United Kingdom.
His social media timeline indicates a path from North Africa to Europe. In May, he posted a video showing himself and others on a large orange rescue boat. The Mail identified this vessel as the Solidaire, an NGO ship flying under the German flag that rescues migrants in the Mediterranean.
Contemporary news reports confirm the Solidaire docked in Genoa, Italy, on May 16 after rescuing 263 migrants who had set off from Libya. Abubaker's subsequent posts show him in Italy and later in Paris, France, by early June.
While in France, he posted messages congratulating others on reaching Britain. On November 11, he shared a post with the caption: 'Last but not least, the destination was successfully reached.' It remains unclear how he finally entered the UK. The Daily Mail attempted to contact Abubaker for comment.
Government Reaction and Policy
Home Office sources, while stressing the footage showed no 'malicious activity' and that there was no definitive proof it depicted asylum seekers or official accommodation, expressed clear frustration.
A Home Office spokesperson stated: 'We are furious at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels.' They reiterated the government's commitment, adding, 'This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well underway to move asylum seekers into more suitable accommodation such as military bases, to ease pressure on communities across the country.'
The video has ignited further debate about the use of hotels for asylum seekers and the journeys undertaken by migrants crossing the Channel.
