Charity concerned by asylum hotel closure

The Home Office has decided to stop using the Lion Hotel in Shrewsbury

A refugee support charity has said the closure of a hotel for asylum seekers risks undoing all the work it has done to help them over the past 18 months.

The Home Office said last month it no longer needed the Lion Hotel in Shrewsbury and the last guests would have to leave by July.

Amanda Jones, the CEO of Shropshire Supports Refugees, said it had worked to provide sports and recreational activities for them and to help them improve their English.

She said she hoped people in Shropshire would offer them homes, in the same way they had supported Ukrainian refugees, so they could remain in the county.

Most of the refugees will go to Serco-run accomodation, and others will reside with family and friends around the country.

But a handful - around 10 - hope to be able to stay in Shrewsbury where they have started to build a life and make friends.

Mrs Jones said she hoped the handful of remaining refugees could stay in the town

Since asylum seekers started arriving at the hotel in November 2022, there have been a small number of protests and, in April 2023, a man got a suspended sentence after admitting causing racially aggravated criminal damage there.

But Mrs Jones said most people in Shrewsbury had given them a warm welcome and raised thousands of pounds to help them settle in.

"We wanted to give them the same welcome and the same support and the same care that we gave the Ukrainians and the Syrians before them," she said.

Her charity has paid for trips to a local leisure centre, a pool table, dominoes, cards and other activities.

She said the asylum seekers had worked hard on their English and joined conversation groups.

But following the Home Office decision, she said: "All the hard work they are putting into their courses are just being taken away from them and they have to start all over again.

"They are just surviving day-to-day, not knowing what their future holds."

Mrs Jones said the responsibility and cost of housing for the small number remaining would likely fall on Shropshire Council and she hoped that burden could be reduced if people would offer space in their homes.

One of the hotel guests, Adnan, from Afghanistan, said: "You have your plans and suddenly they came with the surprise and tell you you're no longer in here."

He said it was a "really difficult" situation and he was thinking of returning to Nottingham, where he had been housed previously.

Mrs Jones said: "We want to help them have that same stability that we all have in life."