SUELLA Braverman and the Home Office have been slammed for proposing to introduce enforced room sharing for asylum seekers at hotels in Scotland.
MP Pete Wishart has written to the Home Secretary expressing “profound concern” about the prospect of room sharing being implemented at Best Western Queens Hotel and the Station Hotel in his Perth constituency, which are accommodating asylum seekers.
The letter comes after reports that the number of asylum seekers in the hotels will soon double to 250, with the Home Office apparently intending to meet this additional capacity by enforcing room sharing for most of the residents.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said earlier this year those fleeing conflict and persecution to come to the UK should be “willing” to share rooms with others in a bid to increase capacity and drive down costs.
Wishart said described the measures as “inhumane and deeply flawed” as he highlighted the adverse impact that room sharing would have on people’s welfare, particularly given the length of time that asylum applications are currently taking to process.
He also expressed concern about the potential for conflict that the measure creates given the varying backgrounds and cultures of the residents.
Wishart said: “The Home Office truly is the rotten core of this decaying UK Government, embodying the very worst traits that the administration has become so notorious for.
“The bill that the taxpayer is currently footing for asylum seeker accommodation is of course obscene, but this ‘doubling up’ concept is not the answer and actually creates more problems in practice. Not only will it adversely impact these individuals’ welfare, which will in turn increase demand on local health services, but it also does nothing to address the issue at its heart.
“What we need is [Rishi] Sunak and Braverman to stop their wicked obsession with dehumanising these vulnerable people and instead get on with tackling the underlying crises that their party has created over the past 13 years.
“A good place to start would be to address the chronic shortage of social housing and the complete lack of sufficient legal routes to claim asylum. But given their track record thus far, I don’t think any of us will be holding our breath.
“I am now seeking to raise this in Parliament.”
Wishart said in his letter he understands the enforced room sharing could be rolled out from next week.
Having visited the hotels themselves, the Perth and North Perthshire MP laid out in his letter that the rooms are “far too small” to accommodate two people, and he spoke of hotel residents coming to his office in a “great deal of distress” due to the lack of information they have been provided with in regards to their asylum claim.
He insisted it was vital that, given the fact asylum seekers will have likely endured unimaginable trauma, they are provided with appropriate levels of care and privacy.
Wishart wrote: “Forcing them to share such a small space with a stranger from a completely different culture does the exact opposite.
“Hotels are only ever meant to be used as temporary accommodation, but due to the Home Office’s appalling handling of the asylum backlog, many of the individuals have been waiting more than one or even two years for a decision on their asylum claim.
“I understand that last year some of the men in one of these hotels went so far as to conduct a hunger strike out of frustration about the lack of progress on their applications.
“The enforcement of room sharing is inhumane, deeply flawed and reprehensible, and I implore you to reconsider.”
The National has approached the Home Office for comment.
