London: Migrants in the UK are staging a protest by living on the street outside their allocated hotel after complaining of “inhuman” and “prison-like” conditions, the Daily Telegraph reported on Friday.
The 25 men — from Iraq, Iran, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Bangladesh — were transferred to central London’s Comfort Inn hotel from Park Hotel in Essex.
They said instead of the single rooms offered at the old hotel, the new London site includes four beds to single rooms and unsanitary bathrooms.
They are protesting by sleeping on the street outside the hotel, demanding that they be moved to single rooms by the UK Home Office.
On Thursday evening, the migrants barricaded the entrance to the hotel with bags and suitcases, as well as stuck posters around the site.
One Iranian migrant, 27, said: “Two square meters is not enough for sleeping four people. And when you go to the toilet, the smell damages you.”
Another Iranian, 21, said: “They said we’re going to move you to another, better place. They gave us this postcode. When we checked on Google Maps, we said, ‘oh this is very nice.’
“But when you get in, it’s like a jail. And they treat you very, very bad. They treat you like an animal.”
The migrants were transferred to the London hotel as part of an effort by the Home Office to cut migrant housing costs.
The UK is believed to be spending up to £6 million ($7.5 million) per day on accommodation for 50,000 asylum seekers, many of whom crossed into Britain via the English Channel on small boats.
Ministers are said to be encouraging the use of shared rooms as a deterrence policy against people smugglers.
Posters placed around the hotel by the 25 migrants read “This is a prison, not a hotel” and “Homeless by the Home Office.”
About 400 hotels across the UK have been commissioned by the government to house asylum seekers, with individual migrants receiving £45 per week or £9.10 if food is included in their accommodation.
A Home Office spokesperson said the rooms offered to asylum seekers were “of a decent standard and meet all legal and contractual requirements.”
