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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Men’s Asylum seeker accommodation next to school

569 replies

chibcha · 07/07/2023 22:36

I feel quite ashamed by how I feel but want to know if it warranted.

There has been an announcement that a 500 men’s asylum seeker accommodation is going ahead against councils decision (it was overruled on a national scale). This is Stafford btw

It will be butted up to (no gap) to my DCs school and opposite a nursery. It’s not because they are asylum seekers that concerns me. It’s the fact it’a 500 men unit, with many with no known history / criminal records/ mental state.

I work over an hour away and currently my daughter who is 12 walks to the bus etc, she also does after school clubs then walks home alone. Most parents at the school are talking about moving their kids but in reality and logistically that’s not going to happen.

I genuinely feel scared for her safety. AIBU?
Its the location of it that’s wrong and the fact the council stated issues and concerns so refused it but got overruled by the government…

OP posts:
Thread gallery
18
MichelleScarn · 07/07/2023 23:12

mcdonaldsfortea · 07/07/2023 22:59

Show some kindness. If you want to move your child then do it. 500 asylum seekers are human beings. They've been through goodness knows what and are trying to make a better life for themselves.

Yes, op #bekind how can you think about your own daughter, don't you know how selfish that is? Other people first always 🙄

EscapeRoomToTheSun · 07/07/2023 23:12

This reply has been deleted

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AnneLovesGilbert · 07/07/2023 23:13

YANBU at all. We’ve got a hotel nearby that’s been taken over by the Home Office and there have been loads of problems in our village. Bored, often angry men with nothing to do living in limbo is bad news for everyone. I know asylum seekers have to be housed and this should be done compassionately and much better than it’s being managed at the moment but just barrelling ahead like this is crazy and going to stoke up fear and tension.

Ducksinthebath · 07/07/2023 23:14

What if it was an army barracks? Would that be fine?

AnneLovesGilbert · 07/07/2023 23:16

JudgeRudy · 07/07/2023 23:12

Hmm, I'm going to stick my neck out and say that it's OK. Statistically, let's say there are some 'dangerous' men in there - unless they are known paedophiles, children shouldn't be any more at risk than anyone else so being next to a school shouldn't influence.
I think if you don't feel your kids are able to recognise/avoid/report 'trouble' then you need to pick them up.
If these same people were eg next to a church or in your culture de sac would they be any more or less of risk?

How on Earth would anyone know who’s a paedophile?

JenniferBooth · 07/07/2023 23:20

The hotel staff who are being made redundant when the hotels are being handed to Serco et al have no voice.

TooBigForMyBoots · 07/07/2023 23:21

YANBU OP. I'm sorry that the government aren't doing their job and you are suffering because of it.

PriamFarrl · 07/07/2023 23:21

Ducksinthebath · 07/07/2023 23:14

What if it was an army barracks? Would that be fine?

Well the RAF camp used to be near that site but I guess that’s different.

ExtraOnions · 07/07/2023 23:22

I guess hundreds and hundreds of men live near the school, and on the way to school… are you as concerned about them ? Has the fact that a certain % of those men will be sex offenders concerned you in the past ?
Are you now only concerned about the vile behaviour of men, now some foreign ones are going to love near the school?
You might be wrapping your racism up with a “what about the children” ribbon (as lots of racist right-wingers do), but … it’s still your racism that’s being triggered.

CrazyArmadilloLady · 07/07/2023 23:22

JudgeRudy · 07/07/2023 23:12

Hmm, I'm going to stick my neck out and say that it's OK. Statistically, let's say there are some 'dangerous' men in there - unless they are known paedophiles, children shouldn't be any more at risk than anyone else so being next to a school shouldn't influence.
I think if you don't feel your kids are able to recognise/avoid/report 'trouble' then you need to pick them up.
If these same people were eg next to a church or in your culture de sac would they be any more or less of risk?

Paedophiles - similar to rapists, abusers, murderous and other dodgy people - don’t come with handy labels on their heads.

Are you seriously suggesting a child should be able to recognise a paedophile approaching them ……?

😳

Sometimeswinning · 07/07/2023 23:22

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Always one. THE OP IS NOT RACIST OR U.

JenniferBooth · 07/07/2023 23:24

Hotel staff are losing their jobs which could lead to them losing their homes. And are not allowed to complain. The only outlet ive seen giving them a voice is GB News And we have already seen what happens when the left ignores them and the right fills that void. The left is failing them.

bridgetreilly · 07/07/2023 23:25

@Radiodread In fact it is former student accommodation that is being used, and no one made complaints about that. And yes, it was near an RAF site which is now a large and growing army barracks. No complaints about that.

Like I said earlier in the thread, I frankly think this is ridiculous. It’s a really sensible use of the space.

Thisweeksname · 07/07/2023 23:26

I wouldn’t like this either. A similar thing occurred near to a girls school in Birmingham. The school sent letters home warnings parents that they had concerns about the male asylum seekers gathering in an area the girls walked through. Eventually they were moved on.

I find it odd that the vast majority of these asylum seekers are young men. There are hardly any women and children. These blokes are happy to leave them behind. They are economic migrants. They aren’t fleeing war etc at all.

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 07/07/2023 23:26

chibcha · 07/07/2023 23:07

The council actually refused it. The government overruled the wishes in favour for Serco (who get the government contracts).

Can I state, I am in noway against anyone claiming asylum, which is perfectly legal and they are fully initialled to.

I just feel unable to protect my child safely with 500 unknown men placed next door. It’s a matter of statistics.

Show quote history

Where do you think all the people who are claiming asylum have to go then?

You are happy for them to come here, but just not to your neighbourhood because you worry about your DD? What about someone else daughters?

bridgetreilly · 07/07/2023 23:26

@PriamFarrl Traffic police headquarters, not normal policing.

bridgetreilly · 07/07/2023 23:27

It’s not a girls school, it’s mixed.

calmcoco · 07/07/2023 23:27

Swrigh1234 · 07/07/2023 22:49

It is. But when there are unprecedented number of people entering the country every day, they have to go by somewhere. Most of MN seems to be for the mass immigration of asylum seekers. They can’t get enough of it. Then why is housing them in their neighbourhoods a problem. Not directed at OP, but in general people cannot have it both ways.

Show quote history

The issue is the useless Tories don't process anyone so no decisions get made. If people can/should be here, they shouldn't be in an asylum centre they should be working.

if people can't/shouldn't be here they shouldn't be in an asylum centre either.

These big centres are needed because the Tories have lost control of the whole process.

JaneyGee · 07/07/2023 23:27

HiKenHiKenHiKen · 07/07/2023 22:38

You’re not be unreasonable at all but you’ll be roasted on here. I would absolutely move a teenage girl or commit to chaperoning here there and back every day.

I agree. To the bullying woke liberals who dominate this country, the OP’s post is outrageous. To normal, sensible people, it’s perfectly reasonable (you know, us horrible little Daily Mail-reading NIMBYs). Every time I watch the news, or look at photos of migrants arriving, I am struck by the same thing - they’re all young men!! Presumably the women and children and old people have been left behind to face the “war and persecution” we keep hearing about.

People leave their country for all sorts of reasons. Some, of course, are legitimate. I would be the first to defend a Chinese student, for example, who had campaigned for democracy, or a gay Iranian who’d been arrested for his sexuality. If I was sure they were legit, I’d go out of my way to welcome them. But real life isn’t like some mawkish Hollywood film. Some people flee abroad because they’ve murdered or raped someone. Many are just rootless drifters. Look at the Brits who move to Spain. So many British criminals have fled there over the years it’s been nicknamed the ‘costa del crime’.

dimorphism · 07/07/2023 23:27

Bored, often angry men with nothing to do living in limbo is bad news for everyone This. I wouldn't want any large group of aimless traumatized men right next to my child's school. Also many of these men may come from countries where women and girls are not given human rights.

My suggestion is Gary Linekars back garden, I'm sure it's big enough and he's been a vocal supporter of asylum seekers.

Failing that, put asylum seeking families in there - ideal location just next to a school.

It's almost as if they're deliberately creating situations where terrible things might happen......

LauraNicolaides · 07/07/2023 23:28

I'm finding the whole thread pretty shocking. Yes, you're being very unreasonable.

calmcoco · 07/07/2023 23:29

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 07/07/2023 23:26

Where do you think all the people who are claiming asylum have to go then?

You are happy for them to come here, but just not to your neighbourhood because you worry about your DD? What about someone else daughters?

Show quote history

As I said above - the fact there's a huge case backlog is mismanagement.

If someone is staying they should be getting on with contributing - working, living, normal life.

JamSandle · 07/07/2023 23:29

PriamFarrl · 07/07/2023 23:09

My town has asylum seekers housed in a hotel in the town centre. I’ve only ever seen about 3 people and I go past regularly. Over certainly not seen gangs of men hanging around.

We have a couple of hotels near us (opposite and a road nearby). It's different men in and out. Some have been lovely. Others more troublesome.

dimorphism · 07/07/2023 23:30

LauraNicolaides · 07/07/2023 23:28

I'm finding the whole thread pretty shocking. Yes, you're being very unreasonable.

Why don't you suggest your neighbourhood if you're so keen.

toffeeappleglow · 07/07/2023 23:32

You are not being unreasonable. Like it or not, there's no way of knowing which of these men will be a threat, but with 500 men and no way to ascertain possible criminal backgrounds or other problems, it's inevitable that some of them aren't safe around anyone, but especially not children.