#asylum-seekers

#asylum-seekers

I am exhausted by this situation and find it deeply unfair and unjust. I arrived on a boat with 83 other people, and only 12 of us were moved to a detention centre. The rest are being processed through the asylum system normally and are now in hotels. Meanwhile, we are being held here alongside people who may have criminal convictions.

France, UK, France, UK, France it's not my choice, he says. I went to UK twice because I felt I had no other option. The smugglers in northern France attacked me and threatened my life before I crossed to the UK for the first time on August 6. When the Home Office returned me here the first time I believed the smugglers were still searching for me. I continue to believe that. I am frightened every time I go outside the shelter.

The woman's cries echo down the hallway, shattering the usual silence of a courtroom. Her four-year-old daughter joins in, beginning to cry in her father's arms as the family is surrounded by half a dozen masked agents. The only other sounds are the whispers of volunteers, who are quickly trying to identify the family about to be detained, and the cameras of journalists witnessing the scene. It's impossible to hear what the immigration officials are saying to the Venezuelan couple, as they are cornered.

"I will continue to press the Home Office and the prime minister for a closure of the hotel as soon as possible," Gander said. Councillors in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, passed a motion earlier this month which said that "Broxbourne residents must come first". The council leader said: "Despite the outcome for Epping Council in yesterday's ruling, Broxbourne Council is still determined to end the use of the Delta Marriott hotel for the accommodation of asylum seekers."

"undocumented bogus asylum seekers in many cases", which was "an affront to the people of Broxbourne"

Our clients are still waiting for answers as to how this was allowed to happen and accountability for the significant harm they suffered. We represent highly vulnerable individuals, including children, families and victims of trafficking and torture, who were deeply affected by their experiences at Manston. They are the victims of the inhuman and degrading treatment that occurred, and it is therefore the responsibility of the Home Office to ensure that this public inquiry is allowed to take place without any further delays.

He had arrived in the country hoping to start a new life with his Venezuelan partner, after being forced to leave his home due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. His partner's mother and family welcomed him as one of their own and waited for him with open arms. A year later, they are still waiting for him.

Gardaí believe the violence in Citywest was "far more organised and planned" than the rioting in Dublin city centre two years ago.

Public order gardaí were deployed to the hotel after a large crowd gathered at the entrance of the facility, which is currently being used to house asylum-seekers. Fireworks, bricks, bottles and other objects were thrown at gardaí as the crowd swelled in numbers. The garda water cannon was brought to the scene. A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said members "were subjected to sustained levels of violence".

Godwin said she does "not anticipate" that she will fund asylum seekers' travel out of her budget. But she added Home Office-issued tickets would offer "a cheaper and greener way for people to attend essential appointments." Asylum seekers living in hotels are given 9.95 per week. Those living in Bristol have to travel to Patchway for mandatory meetings with the Home Office. A single bus ticket costs 2.50, or 6.50 for a daily pass.

Bristol City of Sanctuary has been campaigning for asylum seekers to receive free bus travel. The charity is relying on donations to offer bus tickets that are often used for mandatory Home Office meetings, or to take young children to a creche.

Epping Forest District Council is seeking to block migrants lodging at The Bell Hotel in Epping, which was the scene of vociferous protests over the summer. Lawyers for the authority accused Somani Hotels of 'sidestepping' planning laws due to 'the lure of a trove of government-funded profits'. The Home Office, which intervened in the case, argued the closure of asylum hotels must be 'structured' and gradual.

An asylum seeker who took his own life on the Bibby Stockholm barge would still be alive were it not for failures in his care by the Home Office and NHS mental health workers, his family has said. Leonard Farruku, 27, was found dead in December 2023 on the government's former accommodation vessel for migrants, which was moored at Portland Port, Dorset.

Some of those being deported held valid US residency permits, he said, but were nonetheless included on the deportation list, with their consent obtained for repatriation. The confirmation comes after the New York Times, citing unnamed officials in Tehran, said a plane carrying around 100 Iranians left Louisiana late on September 29 and was set to arrive in Iran via Qatar the following day.

The blaze at the Thistle City Barbican Hotel, in Dingley Road, Islington, happened at about 22:50 BST on Wednesday, according to the Met Police. No-one was hurt and staff put out the flames before officers arrived. The force said it was an isolated incident and it wanted to identify one suspect, while it was keeping an open mind about motive. There have been no arrests.

The use of taxis to take asylum seekers from their hotels to appointments must be stopped, the prime minister has said. It comes after a BBC investigation into conditions inside asylum hotels found some migrants taking long journeys by cab, including one 250-mile visit to a GP costing 600. Sir Keir Starmer said people would be "very concerned" by this practice and repeated his commitment to end the use of hotels "as quickly as possible."

Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, who arrived in the UK on a small boat days before the incidents, was found guilty of five offences following a three-day trial at Chelmsford and Colchester magistrates' courts. The 38-year-old told two teenagers he wanted to have a baby with each of them and attempted to kiss them, before going on to put his hand on one of the girls' thighs and stroke her hair, his trial was told.

Bay Area immigrant rights advocates have filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration to end its controversial immigration courthouse arrests and stop federal officers from detaining people for days in a San Francisco holding facility not meant for overnight use. The unprecedented tactic has triggered heated protests, with some activists attempting to block arrests and getting into clashes with ICE officers.

Confirming that she hopes to take a harder line than her predecessor, Yvette Cooper, she said she would do whatever it takes to cut the number of people entering the UK by irregular routes such as small boats. In a first announcement as home secretary, she proposed to cut the number of visas granted to countries that delay or refuse returns of their citizens who have no right to remain in the UK.

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With the Home Office, I have been putting military planners into their border command and into their planning for the future. We are looking at the potential use of military and non-military sites for temporary accommodation for the people who come across on these small boats that may not have a right to be here or need to be processed rapidly before we can decide whether or not they should say or whether or not we deport them,