A Cardiff hotel is to close to be used to hold people seeking asylum. WalesOnline understands that the Home Office plans to use the hotel to house people applying for asylum within the UK.
An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and might have fled their home country because of war or other factors harming them or their family. They are often vulnerable and targeted by criminal gangs and traffickers.
Photos from inside the hotel show a new menu in several different languages. The hotel is not being named for security reasons.
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It is also understood that staff have been given only a few days' notice that they will be made redundant as a result and were informed on the afternoon of September 5.
A Home Office spokesman told WalesOnline: “We are dealing with an unprecedented increase in asylum cases but despite this we continue to ensure that the accommodation provided is safe, secure and leaves no one destitute. The Home Office does not comment on operational arrangements for individual hotels.”
Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute can obtain support, which may include accommodation, whilst their asylum claims are being assessed. Accommodation providers, in consultation with local authorities, are responsible for identifying suitable temporary accommodation that can be used for this purpose.
Historically providers have been allowed to use contingency accommodation (hotels) during peaks in demand. Contingency accommodation is used across several sectors as emergency accommodation.
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