Government confirms more than 100 Afghanistan asylum seekers are set to be moved out of Northampton hotel

More than 100 Afghanistan asylum seekers are set to be moved out of a hotel in Northampton, the Government has confirmed.

Asylum seekers staying at the Westone Manor Hotel, near Weson Favell Shopping Centre, for more than a year are set to be evicted.

It is believed there are more than 100 asylum seekers – men, women and children of all ages – were based at the site.

Westone Manor Hotel had been booked out indefinitely since October 2022 as part of the Home Office’s asylum contingency accommodation scheme.

The Home Office never did officially confirm it was using the hotel as part of its asylum contingency accommodation, but they have today (Tuesday, October 17) announced that the scheme has discontinued at Westone Manor Hotel.

A Home Office spokeswoman said the scheme has discontinued at the site and that the asylum seekers will be helped into temporary accommodation elsewhere. They did not state why the scheme ended or where the asylum seekers will be moved to.

Westone Hotel has been contacted for comment.

Chronicle and Echo understands that other hotels being used by the Home Office include the Ibis near Crick, Westone Manor Hotel and one more venue the Chron has chosen not to name.

The Northampton Labour Group says it believes the asylum seekers in all three Home Office hotels across West Northamptonshire are also being ‘evicted and dispersed’ over the next few days.

A Northampton Labour Group spokeswoman said: “Households and families have been given very short notice and have not been told where they are going or why they are going.

“These families, including young children, have already been through an extremely traumatic journey in coming to us. They have since created a life for themselves in our area, playing an important part in local volunteering and community work whilst their children have settled into schools and made friends. These dispersals will have a massive impact on these lives: disrupting the children’s schooling, removing the adults from their college courses, cancelling appointments with doctors and lawyers. It also breaks up the close networks built between our communities over the last 12 months.

"These relocations should acknowledge these ties and prioritise helping children thrive. Instead of backlogs at the Home Office taking years and leaving people in limbo unable to work or make a life for themselves, asylum claims need to be sorted out at speed. 76 per cent are found to be rightful claims. So why the hold up? Those able to work and contribute should be able to.”

Northampton Labour councillor Danielle Stone (Castle ward) said ‘this is absolutely no way to treat other human beings’.

Councillor Stone said: “I know many of the households that are being displaced. I know how hard they have worked to learn English, to support the children at school, to support local organisations by volunteering.

“They will be missed by many. This is absolutely no way to treat other human beings.

“The Tory Government has got itself into a very expensive mess over their treatment of asylum seekers. We call on them to treat people with rightful claims for justice with all due humanity.”

According to the Government, contingency hotel accommodation has had a ‘major effect’ on the asylum support budget. The Home Office says it spent around £3.6 billion on asylum support costs in 2022/23, nearly double spending in 2021/22. About £2.28 billion was spent on hotel accommodation in the last financial year.

Contingency hotels have been more widely used and for much longer than originally anticipated, according to the Home Office. Around 47,500 people (42% of people in receipt of asylum support) were in hotel accommodation at the end of March 2023. This compares to around 9,500 asylum seekers in hotels in October 2020, according to the Government.