A QUARTER of migrant hotels will be returned to public use by the spring.
More than 47,000 asylum seekers are housed in 400 hotels across the UK, at a cost of £8million a day.
GettyMore than 47,000 asylum seekers are housed in 400 hotels across the UK[/caption]
AlamyImmigration Minister Robert Jenrick insisted a slump in crossings this year meant demand for hotels had fallen[/caption]
Ministers yesterday branded that “unacceptable” and “unsustainable” and announced 50 of them will be phased out by the end of January — and another 50 by the end of March.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick insisted a slump in crossings this year meant demand had fallen — but also admitted the use of hotels had been “damaging” to communities across the country.
Room sharing has also reduced the number of hotels needed, with former military bases soon to house arrivals instead.
Yet 5,000 beds are kept on standby in case a migrant surge overwhelms processing centres.
Mr Jenrick told the Commons yesterday: “We will continue to deliver on our strategy to stop the boats and we will be able to exit more hotels.
“We are putting in place dedicated resource to facilitate the orderly and effective management of this process and limit the impact on local communities.”
But Labour said the number of hotels returning to public use was paltry.
Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock accused Mr Jenrick of behaving “like an arsonist who has burnt our house down and expects us to thank him for throwing a bucket of water on it”.
In a fiery clash, Mr Jenrick hit back: “The new towns Keir Starmer announced at the Labour Party conference will be filled with illegal migrants.”
Europe law ‘non’
FRANCE is willing to override European human rights laws to deport danger migrants.
President Emmanuel Macron is pressing ahead with plans to remove foreign criminals without waiting for Strasbourg judges to hear an appeal.
If found to have broken the rules, Paris would pay a fine but crucially not take the foreigners back.
The move will strengthen calls in Britain to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
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