Dear Home Secretary Yvette Cooper,
We are a group of asylum and refugee organisations working directly with vulnerable and scared people, asylum seekers and refugees, accommodated in Home Office hotels across the country. Over the past two weeks, our clients have been terrorised, re-traumatised and further dehumanised by organised far-right racist violence, unfolding on our streets and across our country, leaving communities at risk.
Asylum seekers, refugees and wider communities of colour are scared for their lives, alongside our colleagues who support them, as many non-governmental organisations are being targeted by the far-right. The far-right can not and must not be allowed to dictate how and where asylum seekers and refugees are housed.
The failed policy of housing asylum seekers and refugees in hotels has been a gift to the far-right and those scapegoating vulnerable people, protected under international law, for racist and political violence. The isolation of these hotels and the stigmatisation of asylum seekers and refugees housed in this way has allowed their further dehumanisation and segregation from wider society.
This must end now.
Dangerous disinformation about asylum hotels has spread online and in real life, leading to the devastating consequences we are seeing. The Home Office must reclaim false narratives back from the far-right and centre the humanity, dignity and lived experiences of asylum seekers and refugees.
Refugees and asylum seekers deserve safe homes, not hotels.
We call on the Home Office to:
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Urgently ensure the safety and protection of all asylum seekers and refugees, in the face of Islamophobic and racist mob political violence and intimidation.
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Ensure there are clear evacuation protocols for hotels, and that these are shared with contractors running the hotels, to ensure people are safe. We call for short and long trauma informed mental health and wellbeing support to be put in place for asylum seekers and refugees.
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Use this shameful moment in UK history to urgently change the dial on refugee and asylum seeker housing policy. It is only through doing so that the UK will be seen to uphold international laws and protections of asylum seekers and refugees.
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Ensure that any future “dispersal" schemes are structured around asylum seekers and refugees living within communities, as isolation heightens the risk of them becoming targets for racism and violence.
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House asylum seekers and refugees in communities, where they can settle, become part of the fabric of wider society, move into employment and live lives of dignity, hope and safety.
We would welcome an urgent meeting with you to discuss our calls to action during this crisis. We look forward to hearing from you.
Signed,
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