The local council has revealed plans to relocate single men to an asylum hotel in Surrey, which will begin next week. It comes after the Home Office halted plans for the Stanwell Hotel last month following protests.

Spelthorne Borough Council (SBC) stated that officials will remove families seeking asylum, particularly vulnerable women and children, from the facility and replace them entirely with males. A Home Office official stated, “We have committed to closing all asylum hotels.”

“To achieve this, we will look at a range of more appropriate sites like disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites so that we can reduce the impact on communities.” SBC has filed a challenge to the ruling, claiming it was not heard and that its issues have yet to be answered.

Some neighbours are concerned about the plans because they believe male asylum seekers pose a risk to the community, particularly women and girls.

Conversation Over Borders, a Brighton-based non-governmental organisation, told the BBC that it was a “harmful and unevidenced myth” that men seeking asylum were dangerous. “Young men seeking safety deserve the same welcome and protection as anyone else,” they told me.

SBC head Joanne Sexton earlier stated that families currently staying at the hotel had assimilated well and formed community relationships.

The local authority stated it got a verbal update from the Home Office that the family will be relocated to Slough. According to a Home Office spokesperson, there are presently fewer than 210 asylum hotels open in summer 2023, costing approximately £9 million per day.

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