People arriving in the UK illegally - a security, humanitarian and financial concern
Over recent weeks there has been a significant focus on the huge number of people arriving in the UK illegally on small boats.
Migrants who travel through safe countries should not put their lives at risk by making the dangerous and illegal journey to the United Kingdom.
Many recognise this to be a serious security and humanitarian issue - both for the general public and for genuine asylum seekers. But it would be unwise of us not to recognise that this also introduces a serious financial issue for UK taxpayers during what can only be described as challenging economic times.
On Monday, in Parliament, I asked Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick about the Government’s plan to move away from the expensive model of using hotel accommodation to house migrants.
And whilst I’m pleased that the Home Secretary is fully committed to finding solutions and ending the exploitation of our system by criminal gangs, and It’s been good to see progress in cooperation with French authorities, I would also like to see our laws further strengthened to deter these illegal landings.
Asylum Seekers Accommodation and Safeguarding | November 7 2022
"The town of Stocksbridge in my constituency is awaiting final confirmation of £24 million of Government funding through our town deal.
That £24 million will be a transformational sum for Stocksbridge, but it equates to just four days of taxpayer expenditure on hotel accommodation for people who have arrived illegally in the UK.
Does my right hon. Friend agree that as well as being a complex security and humanitarian issue both for the public and for genuine asylum seekers, the small boats crisis also represents a serious financial issue in these difficult economic times? Can he expand on his previous answer about how the Government will move away from the expensive hotel model?" Miriam Cates MP
"My hon. Friend and I have spent many happy hours in Stocksbridge and I want to see the Government investing even more in her community.
She is right to say that it is an unconscionable waste of taxpayers’ money to be spending over £2 billion per year on hotel accommodation. That money could be put to better use, whether helping her constituents or fulfilling our broader mission as a country to support those in distress who truly need it at home or abroad.
The approach that the Home Secretary and I are going to take is to speed up decision making so that we can get people out of hotels because their application has been decided, to disperse people more fairly and evenly across the country, to see whether better value sites are available to us, and of course to do everything we can to dissuade people from making the journey in the first place." Minister for Immigration, Robert Jenrick
