How are we paying to house asylum seekers

[Asylumhotels]

I saw on the news that the UK is spending several million pounds every day to house asylum seekers in hotels. How are we affording this? Surely we can't carry this on, are there any alternatives?

Sorry if this is incorrect, I only know what I've seen on the news so any further info is welcome

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9663/

It's probably £16 per night B and B's with no cooking facilities. Cooking with a kettle alone. Slotted time to use a kitchen but not let children in with them. Maybe a bit better as this is what is given to families with no recourse to public funds who do not have the benefits of asylum seeking status in big cities.

Process claims quicker and more efficiently or make it possible for people to claim from outside the UK

Well, there are alternatives but the government aren’t interested. Assessment in France as offered by the French government. Allowing people to work while being assessed as happens in several other countries. But no, the Tories prefer to pay the entire cost while not actually assessing many people at all. It’s bad for the asylum seekers and expensive, but I expect some Tory crony is getting the benefit so that’s what will continue to happen.

The local 4 star hotel to me just closed to the public in order to house refugees and I've paid over £100 a night to stay there

That's interesting, so are we not allowing refugees to find work in the UK?

No, they can't work while going through the asylum process (which can take 5 years) and get £30 a week to live on.

5 years ??!!

Exactly - it’s the fault of the uk government.

Some journalist posted on Twitter they get 175 pw personal allowance?

An asylum seeker is not the same as a refugee. Refugee status means the person has been granted asylum and can work here. An asylum seeker is not allowed to work here.

Sorry, so are those in the hotels refugees?

That's interesting, so are we not allowing refugees to find work in the UK?
🤣🤣🤣honestly I can’t believe you don’t know that people who rock up in the uk and seek asylum are not allowed to work. Once you get refugee status you can have a job if you can find one.
if we don’t house them what do you suggest? Send them back to where they are running from?

Those in hotels will most likely be asylum seekers. But I imagine some will have been granted refugee status but have not been found permanent housing. But are likely there as anyone else awaiting social housing because of homelessness is.

I have friends who have sought asylum/are going through the process. It is long. Literally years. They are not allowed to work, they receive a pittance of an allowance as not allowed to claim benefits, can't study, get moved randomly to a new area.

Cheaper alternatives would be to process asylum claims more quickly, and to allow applications before they arrive in the UK. This would also lower the rate of people making dangerous crossings via small boats from France.

Some people don't tell the truth about where they are from. Some people don't tell the truth about why they need asylum. Some people destroy their documents to prevent the authorities from identifying them and finding out their identity. It can take years to pick the pieces apart and find out who people really are, where they are really from and if they have any right to asylum. Some people will go to extreme lengths to frustrate that process. Hence why we occasionally have 30 year old men with beards in schools mixing with children and claiming to be 15.

Claims need to be processed quicker

all countries need to work together this isn’t just a problem for a few countries

there is no reason why AS shouldn’t work it’s not healthy for people just sitting around waiting we have seen the issues that at times happen

What is the process? Who do they have to talk to or what do they have to look at to decide

I think I read that they are not allowed to work while waiting for the process ‘as that would encourage them to come’. I’m not entirely sure why being able to work when you get here would make you any more or less likely to hop on a tiny boat or get into an airtight truck to attempt to sneak in?
I’m not sure of the official reason but it does seem a bit bonkers.

That would be a reasonable explanation if anyone was even trying to process. They really aren’t at the moment.

Some journalists tell lies. The press is massively right wing.

Obviously part of the process will involve making enquiries to various authorities in those countries people claim to be fleeing. That can be difficult when documents are purposely destroyed to prevent such investigations. When we first began to see the phenomenon of people arriving in small boats, many initially claimed to be from Iran and turned out not to be from there at all. The belief was you had a better chance of success by claiming to be from a country known for its human rights abuses.

This is absolute bollocks*. Asylum seekers in hotels get £8 per week, and and those in self catering accommodation get around £40 a week.

*Sorry, my ire is directed at that journalist, not you!

Some people yes - not not most - I work with unaccompanied children - yes children - it's not uncommon in some places for 15 year olds to have facial hair.

I have kids, in care, turning 18 still with no Home Office decision 5+ years down the road.

Some people also DON'T have documents - fleeing home, going into hiding, being trafficked, not owning a passport/having your passport taken because your mum/dad have been taken by the gov - all reasons people might not have papers.

Who said most?

no one