Labour Proposes Charging Taxpayer for Asylum Seeker Hotels in Two Countries at Same Time – Guido Fawkes

Labour Proposes Charging Taxpayer for Asylum Seeker Hotels in Two Countries at Same Time

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Labour’s grand pledge to “end asylum hotels” has already gone up in smoke. The number of asylum seekers living in hotels has risen by over 8,000 since June and last week the independent borders watchdog admitted that Labour has “no clear plan” to cut down migrant hotels. More than 38,000 migrants are living in taxpayer-funded hotels, costing the home office a staggering £5.5 million a day…

Now a document from the Treasury’s Office for Value for Money says migrants will be housed in hotels and temporary accommodation for years to come. Meanwhile, the Home Office is working on a new “return hub” scheme – with plans to house asylum seekers who have had their claims rejected and all appeals exhausted overseas, possibly in the Balkans. Though they’ll be put up in UK hotels first while their asylum claims drag on…

Under the Tories’ Rwanda scheme, Channel migrants would have been sent straight to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed. Instead, Labour’s botched plan means taxpayers will first pay for migrants to stay in hotels while they try to claim asylum in the UK, and then again to strike deals with other countries to house them once their claims are rejected. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp tells Guido:

“Not only has Labour now wasted the money spent setting Rwanda up, but now they plan to spend money on a scheme with another country. But Labour’s scheme will see British taxpayers paying twice – once to put up illegal immigrants in hotels here and again to remove those whose bogus asylum claims fail. Rwanda was a far better option – all illegal immigrants arriving across the channel would have been removed, which would be a stronger deterrent and avoid spending billions on UK hotels.”

Meanwhile, 1,452 migrants crossed the Channel in the last seven days, taking the total for this year to over 5,000 – the highest at this point of the year since records began. Smashing the gangs going well…