{"id":182900,"date":"2023-10-24T13:08:56","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T13:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=182900"},"modified":"2023-10-24T13:08:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T13:08:56","slug":"migrants-to-be-moved-out-of-hotels-in-days-to-end-channel-crossing-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/migrants-to-be-moved-out-of-hotels-in-days-to-end-channel-crossing-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Migrants to be moved out of hotels in days to end Channel crossing crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Migrants will be moved out of hotels within days as the Government finally begins to end \u201cone of the most damaging manifestations\u201d of the Channel crisis.<\/p>\n

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told MPs the first of 50 taxpayer-funded hotels will be closed “in the coming days and will be complete by the end of January”.<\/p>\n

He said: “Ever since the Prime Minister, Home Secretary and I assumed office one year ago, we have been clear that this was completely unacceptable and must end as soon as practicable.”<\/p>\n

Another 50 hotel contracts will be terminated by March.<\/p>\n

Mr Jenrick revealed some 50 asylum seekers are now staying on the Government\u2019s first asylum barge \u2013 the Bibby Stockholm.<\/p>\n

And forcing migrants to share hotel rooms has \u201cavoided the need\u201d for the Home Office to shell out on another 72 venues, the Cabinet minister said.<\/p>\n

He told MPs: \u201cThese hotels should be assets for their local communities: serving businesses and tourists; hosting the life events we all treasure like weddings and birthdays \u2013 not housing illegal migrants at unsustainable cost to the taxpayer. So, we took immediate action to reduce our reliance on hotels.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in the process of re-embarking the barge in Portland: and as of 23rd October occupancy reached approximately 50 individuals. This will continue in a phased manner the coming days and weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd nearly a year on, as a direct result of the progress we have made to stop the boats, I can inform the House that today the Home Office wrote to local authorities and MPs to inform them that we will now be exiting the first asylum hotels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first 50 of these exits will begin in the coming days and will be complete by the end of January. But we will not stop there. As we continue to deliver on our strategy to stop the boats, we will be able to exit more hotels.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Home Office is spending a staggering \u00a38 million per day on 400 hotels for around 50,500 migrants.<\/p>\n

The first contracts to be terminated will be four-star hotels which have included Victorian stately homes, country houses and luxury flats.<\/p>\n

Migrants will be moved to larger accommodation sites, including former RAF bases \u2013 RAF Wethersfield in Essex and RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire \u2013 and the Bibby Stockholm.<\/p>\n

Government sources said ministers have been able to begin cancelling hotel contracts because crossings are down by around 30 per cent.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some 26,553 asylum seekers have crossed the Channel so far this year, down from almost 38,000 this time last year.<\/p>\n

The Immigration Minister rejected claims that crossings are only down \u201cbecause of the weather\u201d.<\/p>\n

He told MPs: \u201cThe weather conditions this year were more favourable to small boat crossings than 2022, and yet we\u2019ve still seen a decrease.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy contrast, in the year to June 2023, detections of irregular border crossings at the external borders of Europe increased by a third and irregular arrivals to Italy across the Mediterranean have almost doubled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must and will go further to stop the boats altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain confident in the legality of our Rwanda partnership and its ability to break the business model of the people smuggling gangs once and for all and we look forward to the judgment of the Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n

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