Asylum seekers ‘crammed into 24-bed hostel rooms’ despite Covid risk

Asylum seekers ‘crammed into 24-bed hostel rooms’ despite Covid risk. A hostel in Southwark, South London, is said to be housing around 500 men. This is despite the local council saying that the facility was not safe to house rough sleepers.

One report claims that the asylum seekers are having to share rooms. The rooms are said to be filled with dozens of beds, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

So far in 2021 the number of small boats arriving in the UK has doubled that seen in 2020.

According to The Independent, residents of the hostel have claimed that occupants are not able to self-isolate even after having tested positive for Covid. Reportedly Southwark Council have written to Home Secretary Priti Patel to warn that housing asylum seekers in the hostel poses “immediate risks”.

Speaking to The Independent one resident said: “We are worried. I don’t feel safe. It’s lots of people in a small space.

“Everyone has complained, but they don’t do anything about it. The staff say they can’t do anything and that we must talk to the Home Office, but the Home Office doesn’t respond to our calls.”

Another occupant told of how a roommate had been infected with the coronavirus, but had not been able to self-isolate.

He commented: “I immediately advised the hostel staff that he should isolate, but they didn’t tell him to. The guy was sick for three days. We had no masks at that time. He got very sick and one night I had to call an ambulance. It wasn’t until five days later that he got moved to another room.”

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