Fury over 'wholly inappropriate' plan to move asylum seekers into Cambs hotel

Plans to use a Cambridgeshire hotel to house asylum seekers in emergency accommodation have been slammed - with the location being slammed as 'wholly inappropriate'. The Home Office is locating the asylum seekers at a hotel in Peterborough.

The Government informed Peterborough City Council of the decision on Thursday (November 14), with arrivals taking place over the next few days. However, the hotel was described as not the ideal location due to being in an area with limited access to services.

North West Cambridgeshire MP Sam Carling and Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes have voiced their opposition to the plans. In a joint statement, they said that the hotel is "a wholly inappropriate place" to house asylum seekers.

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In a post on Friday (November 15), Mr Carling and Mr Pakes said: "This hotel is a wholly inappropriate place to be housing asylum seekers and as Peterborough’s MPs, we are very disappointed to see the Dragonfly Hotel allocated for emergency accommodation.

"Peterborough is a welcoming, tolerant place but this is the wrong location for residents, for the city and for the migrants involved. We have already spoken to Ministers to express our strong opposition to the plans.

"This government has inherited an unprecedented mess from the last government. The Conservatives stopped processing asylum claims leaving a massive backlog. It is Labour’s job to clean up the Tories’ mess.

"We will keep fighting for clear information from the Home Office and to ensure the hotel is stood down as soon as possible."

Councillor Dennis Jones, leader of Peterborough City Council said: "We were informed on Thursday afternoon by the Government that it has taken the decision to accommodate a number of asylum seekers at The Dragonfly Hotel in Thorpe Meadows, Peterborough.

"The arrivals are due to take place over the coming days. There are no plans to re-open the Great Northern Hotel that we are aware of. Peterborough has a proud history of welcoming asylum seekers and others in need to the city, but in a planned and coordinated way.

"Our resources are already stretched – we are already well above our Dispersed Accommodation quota and housing far more than our share of asylum seekers than other areas of the country. In addition, we believe that The Dragonfly is not the ideal location with the hotel sited in a residential area with limited access to services and amenities.

"Aside from our concerns, the arrivals do need support and help from services, and we are therefore offering additional help to enhance that which is being provided by the Home Office together with our partners."

A spokesperson for the Home Office added: "This government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain, with thousands stuck in a backlog without their claims processed.

"We have taken immediate action to restart asylum processing and are delivering a major uplift in returns to remove people with no right to be in the UK. Over the long term this will reduce our reliance on hotels and costs of accommodation.

"We remain absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels for asylum seekers and continue to identify a range of accommodation options to minimise their use."

Dragonfly Hotel declined to comment when contacted by CambridgeshireLive.

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