Taxpayers forking out on £125-a-night hotel rooms for Channel migrants, leaked data reveals
TAXPAYERS are forking out on £125-a-night hotel rooms for Channel migrants, leaked data reveals.
Councils are refusing to put asylum-seekers in their housing stock while some have no places left.
So more than 18,000 are in hotels throughout the country after a record-breaking year of crossings in 2021 and the evacuation of Afghanistan.
Costs range from £22 to £125 a night — but officials warn they are increasingly reliant on the more expensive three-star or even four-star options.
Last night, Tory MP for Ipswich Tom Hunt said: “At a time when lots of people are struggling to get by, to heat their homes and to put food on their tables, they are going to deeply resent people who have come here illegally being put up in three and four-star hotels.
“At the very least — if we cannot offshore-process asylum-seekers — we need detention centres, not nice hotels.”
The number of migrants who crossed the Channel in small boats trebled last year, with at least 28,431 landing. More than 60 have already made the perilous crossing in 2022.
Last night, Home Office sources insisted hotels were used only as a last resort.
A spokesman said: “Due to an unprecedented rise in demand, we have had to use temporary accommodation such as hotels across the UK to manage demands. We are working to end the use of hotels in the asylum estate.”
