A group of up to 40 migrants made headlines earlier this month after protesting against small and “smelly” central London accommodation, provided at the expense of the British taxpayer. The group stood on the street outside a Pimlico hotel, refusing to reenter until their living conditions were improved.
The protest came at a time when the Tory government is desperately working to improve the public perception of its immigration record. Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick reportedly ordered officials to act tough in the face of their demands. But the hotel caved within days and gave the migrants, who are seeking asylum status, what they wanted, according to The Daily Mail.
The primary complaint of the protestors was that they had been told to share rooms—four in each, with two bunk beds. They also said toilets were “smelly” and the wifi was “too weak.” One migrant shared his disappointment that the Pimlico hotel was nothing like the “nice” accommodation they saw on Google Maps.
A 21-year-old migrant who illegally crossed the Channel to enter England is quoted in The Daily Telegraph:
They said we’re going to move you [from Park Hotel] to another, better place. They gave us this postcode. When we checked on Google Maps, we said, oh this is very nice. But when you get in, it’s like a jail. And they treat you very, very bad. They treat you like an animal.
We didn’t come to a better life. We came to save our lives. If the Iranian government take me, they’re going to hang me because I fought for freedom. I’m Kurdish. Too many people in my family, too many people in my nationality, they’re hanged.
We’ll stay [on the street] until the Home Office does something for us. We can stay even for one month. It’s alright.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak later insisted that the conditions were “more than fair.” He added that “if you are coming here illegally claiming sanctuary from death, torture or persecution then you should be willing to share a taxpayer-funded hotel room in central London.” But his, as well as Mr. Jenrick’s rhetoric, is in contrast with reports of a nearby restaurateur who said that “from what I have heard, they have changed from having four people in a room to two.”
The Conservative Party government is spending close to £7 million every day to house migrants in hotels. A plan to cut this figure by housing these individuals on old ferries, in a bid to deter Channel crossings, has been described by Tories as little more than a “gimmick.”
Former business minister Jackie Doyle-Price last month told The Daily Telegraph: “It is more of a gimmick than something that’s going to deliver. It’s a distraction. The Home Office just needs to get its act together and start processing quicker. That’s the only way you’re going to get people out of hotels.”
