ANGER erupted last night as it emerged the Home Office’s latest desperate ruse is to put illegal immigrants into student flats.
Officials, under huge pressure to close down asylum hotels, want to spend millions of pounds on the plan.
The Home Office’s latest desperate ruse is to put illegal immigrants into student flats
Officials want to spend millions of pounds on the plan
Newsline MediaLocals in Leeds have reacted with fury[/caption]
In one case, they tried to slip in a planning application to transform a 247-bed block of flats in Leeds into a hostel for asylum seekers.
The site is close to the famous Otley Run pub crawl, enjoyed by thousands of students in fancy dress every weekend in term time.
The application for Mary Morris House in Headingley, which is owned by a London-based property firm, was submitted a month ago and will be decided in October.
It does not mention asylum seekers nor does it say how many will be housed there or when they will move in.
And it was only when Leeds City Council put out a statement that the Home Office’s intentions for the block became clear.
Headingley is not the right place for them and putting them in student accommodation is just a hotel by another name.
Shop worker Amy Radley
The council said: “The Home Office has advised the council that the submission is part of wider central government efforts to reduce the reliance on hotel use for those seeking asylum.”
The public are not allowed to formally object to the plan or make any official comment on it as part of the planning process.
Locals in Leeds reacted with fury to the plan and accused the Government of trying to solve the hotels crisis by the back door.
Shop worker Amy Radley, 34, said: “Putting asylum seekers in Mary Morris House is not solving the problem of illegal immigration.
“People should not be coming here illegally, and that is what the Government needs to focus on.
“Headingley is not the right place for them and putting them in student accommodation is just a hotel by another name.”
Student nurse Sara Bejoy, 21, who lives opposite the halls, said: “I have concerns for residents’ safety.
“Also, it is so close to the Otley Run, where there are a lot of drunk girls in outfits.
It’s a done deal and Leeds City Council and the Government are turning a deaf ear to genuine concerns
Resident Charles McAdam
“This could be confusing for immigrants, not knowing the culture, and something bad might happen.
Lack of public consultation
“I come back from work at 11pm and I would not feel safe.”
Resident Charles McAdam, 62, was furious about the lack of public consultation.
He said: “Local people are going to get no say on this.
“It’s a done deal and Leeds City Council and the Government are turning a deaf ear to genuine concerns.
“Putting a lot of young foreign males in a place like this, where there are a lot of young girls away from their parents for the first time and could be vulnerable, is not a good idea.
“I think if Sir Keir Starmer believes this is the way he combats those who will be voting Reform, he has not cottoned on to the issue.”
It is thought that the plan, if passed, will not begin until the end of this academic year at the earliest.
This is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money and shows the government has totally lost control of our borders.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp
But there are now fears other university accommodation could be targeted. Officials have been charged with shutting down asylum hotels by 2029.
They cost taxpayers £2.1billion last year.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said of the plan: “This is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money and shows the government has totally lost control of our borders.
“A new Home Secretary will make no difference to Labour’s migrant crisis.”
The Home Office said: “Decisions about accommodation are made with careful consideration alongside local authorities, as part of our strategy to reduce dependence on expensive hotel provision and to create a more sustainable and cost-effective asylum system.”
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