As the mass-eviction of hundreds of asylum seekers rolled into its second day, families at the hotel have said they still don’t know where they will go
By Marco Marcelline
Asylum seekers and families who are being moved at short notice from a Walthamstow hotel have described their anxiety at not knowing where they will end up.
On Thursday 18th January residents at the hotel were informed by the Home Office’s asylum seekers’ housing contractor Clearsprings ReadyHomes that their rooms would “no longer be available” from Friday 26th January and that they would be found new hotels to stay in.
The first of the evictions began at 5pm yesterday evening (25th January). The asylum seekers were met by a crowd of local residents and activists at a hastily organised protest. At one point, people linked arms as they attempted to stop the taxis from leaving.
Asylum support workers on the ground said that many of yesterday’s evictees were moved to various hotels across Newham.
Speaking to the Echo, Sabrina*, a young woman staying at the hotel with her two-year-old daughter and husband, said she saw cabs with families inside leaving as late as 11pm last night.
The Iranian mother had expected to move to an address in Welwyn Garden City but at around 9pm last night (25th January) she was told she would no longer be transferred there. Her family, like many others at the hotel, must now wait to find out where they will go.
Criticising the way the move has been handled by the Home Office and Clearsprings, she said: “I wish they could explain what is happening exactly. I have no idea where I’m going”.
She added that she had seen Clearsprings hold a staff meeting in the hotel last night and had attempted to speak to the safeguarding team but was not allowed to.
Mala*, a young mother from India, had been informed on Tuesday (23rd January) that she would be moved along with her husband and child a 191 mile drive away to Bridgwater, Somerset. One day later (24th January) she was told by Clearsprings to “wait for further updates” and is still in the dark on where she will go.
Mala said that the hotel still contained many families, and that there was an air of anxiety around the place.
Meanwhile, Srizam* said he and his family had still not been made aware of what accommodation they would be moved to, despite waiting to hear for over a week.
Standing in the January cold, Srizam vowed to return to Waltham Forest as soon as his asylum claim was cleared, saying that he and his family were well settled in the borough.
Amid their ongoing housing limbo, he explained that he and his wife had sought to calm their three children by reminding them that despite the anxiety of their situation they “still had a roof and food” to eat.
At around 8.30am today, the first taxi arrived to move the asylum seekers. The driver of the nine-seater mini-bus told the Echo that he would be working all morning to transfer people.
As the morning went on, single men and women began to fill the mini-van up. One man told the Echo he would be going to a Wembley hotel, while two young Iranian women said they were heading to a hotel in West Acton.
Fatima*, who was still awaiting to hear where she would be moved to, waved goodbye to two friends as they set off to their new accommodation.
Appearing distressed, the 21-year-old Iranian said she had been staying at the hotel with her mother and step-father for eleven months.
She told the Echo: “I am well-settled and used to this place. I don’t want to go.”
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The eviction notice has had a devastating effect on her mental wellbeing, she said. “I have been crying for six days, and I have been unable to sleep for three. I have felt stressed and [panicked].”
She hoped to stay somewhere in London close to the college where she is taking English lessons and said she was especially concerned about her mother who suffers from spinal arthritis and has difficulty walking.
One concerned local said she came down to show solidarity this morning because she was “disgusted” at how people in the hotel were being treated. Marina Patterson said: “People who have been living in this accommodation for almost two years, who have established roots in this community, are going to school here, and making friends, are just being torn away from all of that to be sent somewhere they don’t even know.”
“Right now they don’t even know where they’re going. They’re being treated like numbers and we’ve been speaking to some people who told us they get £8 a week to live on”.
People seeking asylum currently receive support payments of £8 a week, which is intended to cover the cost of travel, non-subscription medication and clothing.
Marina added: “I just wanted to be here today to show the whole community cares, and that we don’t think it’s right or think it’s okay.”
Not all of the public’s response was supportive of the asylum seekers; proceedings this morning were briefly punctuated by a passing van driver who shouted “get a job” to the gathered locals.
The Home Office said that it would not disclose whether any asylum seekers from the hotel would be moved to Bibby Stockholm, a controversial floating barge in Dorset where an asylum seeker committed suicide last month.
Clearsprings, which manages asylum seeker accommodation in London, the South of England, and Wales, has been subject to much controversy. In June 2023, asylum seekers under its care at two London hotels protested against accommodation conditions by sleeping on the street. They had allegedly been told they would have to share single rooms – some without beds – between four people.
It appears that the eviction will continue over the weekend and into next week. Two male asylum seekers told the Echo that they had been been informed they would leave in the next three to four days.
Waltham Forest Council says it was blindsided by the removal operation. In a letter sent yesterday (25th January) to the government minister for legal migration and the border Tom Pursglove, council leader Grace Williams wrote: “I am extremely disappointed that, despite our consistent efforts to work closely with the Home Office and requests for regular communication regarding the operation of the hotels, no confirmation of this decision was issued by the Home Office to Waltham Forest Council until 22nd January.”
Cllr Williams added: “I would be grateful if you could provide an explanation as to why more notice was not provided both to residents and the council, and assurances that the education, health and welfare of all those in the hotels will be safeguarded in this process”.
Meanwhile, citizen action group, Waltham Forest Citizens have called on Graham King, the CEO of Clearsprings, to take “immediate and meaningful action” to ensure that asylum seekers are allowed to stay at the hotel until at least April. They also called on him to address and rectify any issues affecting the well-being of asylum seekers and refugees in their hotels, and for awareness to be raised about the living conditions of asylum seekers.
*Names have been changed to protect anonymity.
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