Asylum seekers - are we going too far?

[RiceOnABike]

I will start by saying that I am very sympathetic to asylum seekers, and until now I've believed that we should do all we can to help them in their plight. However...

A small village in Northamptonshire (population 500) is soon to become home to 400 refugees who have arrived here by crossing the channel. This village seems to be very rural, about 8 miles away from the nearest town I think. Apparently there are no facilities there whatsoever apart from a small shop. The migrants will have access to the local GPs and NHS dentists, and we all know how much pressure they are under at the moment. But the straw that has broken the camel's back for me is where they will be staying. Yes, that is really it in the photos. How can we justify all this when the everyday Brit is struggling to heat their homes at the moment? And more worryingly, what sort of deterrent is it to others considering making that dangerous journey across the channel?

So am I being unreasonable, or are we now offering too much?

Linky?

Got bored of readig the daily Mail, OP?

Saw that on the news last nt and l am no nimby but l agree op

What’s the source?

We’re pretty rural and a nearby hotel has been booked out by the home office for asylum seekers for ages, it’s on a main road, they’ve shut the facilities, the men are bored rigid, they have no time frame on anything, and they spend a lot of time wandering round our village and there have been some unfortunate incidents. So I agree very bad planning by the home office is causing issues.

You are absolutely right OP. If this is true then it's insane.

How do you chose who gets sanctuary and who has to go back for torture, rape and death?

Nope, I'm not a fan of the Daily Fail as it happens.

There is info about it here:
www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-64170003

And GB News were reporting on it last night.

I'll be interested to see the source of this info

I'm in outer London and there's a lot of this here, has been for ages.

I get annoyed when people reference the Daily Mail, many of us see it with our own eyes.

That isn't the point I'm making. I have every sympathy for these people. But something here has gone very wrong, this is just completely inappropriate. I'm not a local BTW, I'm in the north west and have no interest in West Northamptonshire.

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Amazed to see the BBC reporting this.

But clearly the hotel or whatever can't make the money they want letting it privately?

But I agree, a big group of people living v rurally probably with no transport is a bad idea.

The news report I saw last night also said that the 400 migrants will be either families OR single males. As a woman, I'm not sure how I'd feel about the possibility of 400 traumatised males moving in next door. There doesn't seem to be any provision for security, or importantly, support for the migrants.

I live on the Northants/ Warks border and there are multiple hotels locally which are closed and full of refugees and asylum seekers. I don't have an issue with it but a lot of people do. There have been many meetings with the useless MP in that article link as well.

I feel for the people stuck in these hotels but until something is done about the people traffickers then nothing will change. These people get told to come here for free accommodation and money - neither is true.

The HO needs to invest in staff to process these people - not keep laying them off.

It's just changed hands, the news report seemed to suggest that it was bought specifically for this purpose. It's been empty for a couple of years after closing during covid lockdowns.

This isn't the fault of the people seeking asylum they didn't come for this. This is the government failing on both immigration and housing.
They could:

1. Process claims faster
2. Allow people to work if they are keeping people in limbo for years so they could pay taxes and earn a living
3. Get better places for asylum seekers to stay.

The pressure on services in the uk in general is also completely the government - asylum seekers are not even 1% of the uk population and they are younger so less likely to need the NHS.

Though in the example you give of the village terrible planning there!!!!

Totally agree with all your points!

100% agree with Lemon here but also wanted to add, the only true way to deter people from crossing the channel is to give them another option. You have to be in the UK to claim asylum and you obviously can’t hop on a plane, so what other choice do they have?

I agree, OP. I'm in Glasgow and our city is currently housing 1000+ of Ukrainian refugees on a docked cruise ship. All the while, there is a regular soup kitchen set up in the city centre which has queuing time of several hours because our homeless situation is so dire. If housing people in cruise ships is viable why were we not doing it for the local homeless people?

Linked here - STV website

They are seeking asylum, it is a short term, temporary condition, and by law, they must be accommodated. Once each person is processed, they are either become refugees, or get turned down. Either way, no further access to asylum seeker accommodation.

They are not moving in to a life of luxury in that hotel, it is just a holding centre while admin is done

They're being housed in a building that's been empty for nearly 3 years then? No facilities laid on - certainly not the swimming pool shown in the picture. Cramped conditions, fed on prison-standard (or worse) food and kept there for as long as possible to make money for the Conservative-connected company which is doing very nicely out of running the contract.

The taxpayer is paying something like £6 million PER DAY because the Home Office hasn't got the staff to process asylum claims efficiently. They could employ over 10,000 new caseworkers for what it's costing to house asylum-seekers in poor conditions.

It's yet another example of the government breaking the country to enrich their mates and donors.

Why can't they get in a plane. There are daily flights from Albanian for example

Sounds like two separate issues - claims aren’t being processed fast enough that there is no suitable accommodation and instead people are stuck with an inappropriate housing situation, for god knows how long after they’ve already suffered so much.

Additionally, there is not being enough done to combat homelessness and also alot more work needs to be done towards the issues that create homelessness in the first place. Unfortunately it’s not always as simple as just giving some homeless people a place to live (although of course that should be an aspect of the care they should receive)

I think it's a huge problem but no idea what the answer is.

I live quite near one of these hotels too and get to see the guests coming and going - I've barely seen any women. Only men and boys.