MPS urged to keep names of asylum hotels under wraps

THE Refugee Council has called for the names of migrant hotels to be kept secret amid fears of racist attacks.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the charity, has written to Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, to express “serious concern” about MPS identifying the properties when mentioning asylum issues in Parliament.

He warned that there was a heightened risk of attacks on the hotels following the firebombing of an immigration centre in Dover last month.

It is thought at least 200 hotels have now been taken over by the Government, housing about 37,000 migrants at a cost of more than £6million a day.

In his letter, Mr Solomon said: “The horrific recent attack in Dover at Western Jet Foil, where people seeking asylum are initially received, served to underline that people in the asylum system are vulnerable to violent attack by extremists and many are staying in hotels with minimal security.

“It has been Home Office practice to not publicly name hotels where people are staying in order to guard their safety and privacy, but we know that increasingly MPS are naming specific premises when they raise this issue.

“We know from our work with people seeking asylum in hotels that they have been targeted by far-right groups and that they are worried and frightened about being attacked.”

Ministers are urgently seeking to identify alternative accommodation for asylum seekers, including defunct holiday camps, disused student accommodation and possibly budget cruise ships.

Severe overcrowding at Manston processing centre in Kent brought the issue to a head earlier this month.