Rushed closure of asylum hotels puts refugee kids’ education at risk, charities warn

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More than a fifth of the 255 refugees housed in two Stockport hotels that are due to close this year after being targeted by the far right are children, said the Education Rights in Hotels Collective.

Some have already been moved between different hotels on a number of occasions, forcing them to find new GPs and schools more than once and at very short notice.

Their heart-breaking cases saw Britain’s largest education union urge the government to consider the impact of housing families miles away from their local communities today.

National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “Education is a right for all children, regardless of their immigration status, yet we know that children living in temporary accommodation for asylum-seekers face significant barriers to education.

“As well as living in overcrowded living quarters with inadequate space to do homework, the scandalously low levels of asylum support and the lack of cooking facilities for nutritious meals mean that many children’s learning is hampered by hunger and poor nutrition. 

“It is imperative that central and local government consider the impact of housing decisions on children’s welfare, health and education when planning accommodation for asylum-seeking families.” 

Among the families in Stockport is a mother from Sudan with two school-age children.

“My children need stability,” she said through the collective after the Home Office informed Stockport Council that Bredbury Hall and a Britannia hotel would cease being asylum accommodation before December this year.

“They have already experienced so much change, and I am worried about what another move could mean for their schooling and friendships. We need clear information about where we will go and reassurance that our children’s needs will be considered,” she added.

Another parent of school-aged children said: “After everything they have been through, my children are finally happy at school and starting to feel safe. But we don’t know where we will be sent next. 

“I am not against leaving the hotel, but I want my children to have stability in education — especially now that I have one child in college. I am worried he will miss this school year if he leaves the college where he is now.”

A third hotel resident added: “We have been living with uncertainty for a long time. Every time we begin to feel settled, something changes.”

Asylum accommodation in Britain is managed by large companies such as Serco through Home Office contracts totalling £15 billion, in an arrangement introduced by the David Cameron government. Labour has committed to ending the use of hotels to house asylum-seekers but some 16,000 remain in them according to official figures.

Local authorities meanwhile have legal responsibility for the education of children in their areas but communication between the Home Office and local councils is reportedly “very poor and there seems to be no universal system in place,” the charity collective said.

A council spokeswoman said that it would “continue to support all our residents and communities across the borough.”

The collective’s calls for the Home Office to ensure that adequate notice is given in the future and for assessments of each family’s needs to be made before they are moved were backed by Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) today.

SUPR co-convener Sabby Dhalu said: “Ultimately, the solution is to give people seeking asylum the right to work and the means to secure their own accommodation, rather than forcing them into hotels.”

Stop the War Coalition said: “When will politicians join the dots between asylum seekers and the wars they flee from?”

The Communist Party’s Alex Gordon agreed hotel accommodation needed to end, saying: “We defend refugees, not the appalling conditions in which they are held. We support campaigners calling for an end to the scandal of asylum hotels.”

Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali called for a complete overhaul of the asylum system which is particularly failing children, adding: “It is heart-breaking to think that they could now have their lives disrupted even more.”

Dr Rhetta Moran, of the collective, slammed the Home Office’s regional Strategic Migration Partnerships being “paid for by public money and make things worse.”

She criticised them for not engaging with asylum-seekers and highlighted that the refugee charities that sit on them are in receipt of government funding.

She told the Morning Star: “It’s completely irresponsible and a dereliction of duty and it’s completely ego driven I would say. Why don’t they go to the people who are living in these places?”

Dr Moran also warned of the impact the disruption to children’s education will have on the government’s aims to reduce the number of young people not in employment, education or training.

The Home Office was contacted for comment.

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