Eastbourne council raises safeguarding concerns around hotels being used for asylum seekers

Last week (November 11) Eastbourne Borough Council (EBC) wrote to the Home Office about the continued placement of asylum seekers in the town. An EBC spokesperson said: “There are now six hotels in Eastbourne providing accommodation for asylum seekers, including large numbers of extremely vulnerable young people. Despite continued warnings about the suitability and location of the hotels that are being commandeered and concerns about the critical lack of safeguarding being exercised, the Home Office has not given us any indication of a change in their policy.”

According to the council, they’ve only been made aware of the latest three hotels being used for asylum seekers through voluntary sector partners and hotel owners, rather than communication from the Home Office. The spokesperson called this ‘totally unacceptable’ and said it ‘undermines the ability of local agencies to support both the vulnerable people placed in the hotels and our existing communities’.

The spokesperson said: “It is also putting people at risk of exploitation and trafficking. Even without these placements, local public services are already under great strain. Like many other towns in the UK, Eastbourne is managing increases in rough sleeping and the use of emergency accommodation, a need exacerbated by the cost of living crisis and landlords selling vital housing provision.

“We hope that the Home Office will provide us with urgent assurances about the support for the placements they have already made and their intentions moving forward.”

MP Caroline Ansell said: “I spoke with the immigration minister Robert Jenrick last week (November 7-11) to express my very serious concerns about the use of hotels in Eastbourne and other places to house those who have come across the channel. The government needs to improve the processing situation and I support changes in legislation, including amendment to the Modern Slavery Act, as it is clearly being exploited and too open to abuse. Housing asylum seekers and economic migrants in hotels is no strategy and it is putting public services in our town under pressure.”

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