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Asylum seekers camped on street outside hotel

Rachael Burford/Evening Standard Asylum seekers outside hotelRachael Burford/Evening Standard
The group of about 40 people arrived in Westminster on Wednesday night, the council says
  • A group of asylum seekers has been "left on the street", a London council says
  • They arrived at their hotel accommodation on Wednesday but refused to stay there due to the conditions
  • Westminster Council's leader has expressed "deep concern" over the situation
  • He says the state of the accommodation "defies common sense and basic decency"

Dozens of asylum seekers were "left on the street" following a dispute over temporary hotel accommodation, Westminster Council said.

About 40 asylum seekers were offered space in a Pimlico hotel, but refused to enter after being asked to sleep "four people per room".

The council has written to the Home Office for answers, saying no solution has been offered and a number of people remained on the streets.

A Home Office spokesperson said accommodation was offered on a "no-choice basis" and "meets all legal and contractual requirements".

'This is a prison'

Rachael Burford/Evening Standard Asylum seekers camped outside hotelRachael Burford/Evening Standard
Some asylum seekers remained camped outside the Comfort Inn in Pimlico on Friday

On Wednesday evening, the asylum seekers were taken to the Comfort Inn in Pimlico, where they discovered they would have to share a room with three other people. Instead, they camped out on the street.

Westminster Council leader Adam Hug has written to Home Secretary Suella Braverman, criticising a situation in which people who "are likely to have been through significant and traumatic events" were being asked to share "an inappropriately sized room with multiple strangers".

Mr Hug said the council received no communication ahead of the transport of the asylum seekers into the borough and that what had happened "defies common sense and basic decency".

Images of the group show sleeping bags and suitcases strewn across the pavement, with signs reading "Help us" and “This is a prison, not a hotel”.

'£6m a day'

Teams from rough sleeping organisations have been helping the group out, Westminster Council says.

As of Friday morning, asylum seekers remained camped outside the hotel in protest.

Some attempted to block traffic along Belgrave Road before the Metropolitan Police ushered them away.

A spokesperson for the Met said officers were "engaging with those involved and remain at the location in order to prevent any breach of the peace".

The Home Office told the BBC that it did not comment on individual hotels, but said it spent "£6m a day for asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute".

It added that the accommodation offered was of a "decent standard" and met "all legal and contractual requirements".

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