Poor hygiene, crowding, mental health concerns: Life in UK asylum hotels under far-right attack
It is not just threats from outside but also conditions within that affect asylum seekers housed in these facilities, most of whom have no options.
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As tensions have risen around small boat crossings and asylum seekers in the UK, the hotels housing them have become regular targets of attacks by far-right, anti-immigration protesters.
Over the weekend, rioters threw projectiles at hotels and reportedly tried to set fire to one in what the home secretary called an “utterly appalling” attack.
We research the experiences of asylum seekers staying in hotels and other forms of institutional accommodation. In a forthcoming paper, we examine the harassment they face from far-right groups, and the role that political rhetoric plays into the violence and fear that asylum seekers experience.
It is not just threats from outside that affect the people staying temporarily in hotels and other accommodation, such as former army barracks.
The state of accommodation also contributed to physical and mental health problems – from overcrowding, poor hygiene and disease outbreaks, to poor access to food and healthcare. Medical doctors from the charity Doctors of the World found high levels of gastrointestinal problems and suicidal thoughts among asylum seekers living in hotels and former army barracks. Most asylum seekers are, under current rules, unable to work or access education, which can exacerbate these problems.
A lot of the accommodation is also unsuitable for children. As Jenny heard in her work with the independent commission on the integration of...
