Ipswich taking 95% of county's asylum seekers - council leader

A town's hosting of 65 out of 68 asylum seekers in Suffolk is an "unfair share", a council leader said.

David Ellesmere, Labour leader of Ipswich Borough Council, said there were districts in the county that had "not taken a single asylum seeker".

He said the Home Office had gone back on its pledge to spread asylum seekers evenly across different areas.

A Home Office spokesman said it was working with authorities to find accommodation across the UK.

Mr Ellesmere made the comments after it was revealed the Home Office planned to house 200 asylum seekers in a Novotel hotel near the waterfront in Ipswich town centre.

The BBC has seen a letter to hotel staff outlining Home Office plans to bring in the department's own catering staff, putting the existing restaurant and kitchen workers at risk of redundancy.

Mr Ellesmere said the town was already housing asylum seekers in another hotel and other districts "aren't doing their fair share".

Mr Ellesmere said the decision to place more asylum seekers in the town "runs completely counter" to the Home Office policy to evenly spread asylum seekers across the country.

"The people coming to our shores have been through absolutely terrible experiences and we need to get them help that they are due," he said.

"Other areas... aren't doing their fair share and we're having more pressure put on services in Ipswich."

A Home Office spokesman said: "The asylum accommodation system is under enormous pressure, with more than 37,000 migrants being accommodated in hotels due to the huge increase in dangerous small boat crossings, costing the taxpayer more than £5m a day.

"We are working with local authorities- including Ipswich Borough Council who were engaged throughout the process - to find appropriate accommodation across the UK and end the use of hotels."

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