Bishop of Leicester calls for calm after asylum seeker hotel protests

The Bishop of Leicester said hotels were not ideal accommodation

A bishop has voiced concerns about tensions in the asylum system after a number of community protests outside hotels.

About 30 hotels are being used to house asylum seekers in the East Midlands while the government deals with a record high backlog of cases.

Some of these placements have been met with local resistance.

The Bishop of Leicester said hotels were not ideal accommodation but asked campaigners to be compassionate.

Bishop Martyn Snow said: "These are human beings with feelings, with a desire for not just safety but to contribute to society.

"I understand people's concerns but I hope that through encounters - actually meeting those people - they'll understand that often these people are very fragile and vulnerable and they are here for very good reasons in most cases."

He said he was concerned about the rhetoric being used when the issue was discussed.

"I think we've become a very polarised society in many ways and it's so easy to forget that what we're talking about here is not just an issue - we're talking about people," he said.

Bishop Snow recently addressed attitudes towards asylum seekers in the House of Lords.

During his maiden speech in December he described Leicester as being "made by migration" including those seeking asylum from places like Uganda and Somalia.

Bishop Snow addressed UK asylum when he spoke in the House of Lords for the first time in December

He said he feared hotel placements in the UK provided little welcome, guidance and orientation.

"They may have a roof over their heads but they are not given even the most basic of means.

"They lack freedom to make even small decisions, like what to eat [or] stable connections to a community, which offers a sense of belonging and support," he said.

Bishop Snow said his speech had been inspired by his own experiences around the world.

He came to the UK as a migrant from Indonesia when he was a child.

Since then he has travelled around the world and moved homes in the UK.

He said: "All of us, we want to be welcomed.

"We want to feel like somebody is treating us as a human being."

More than half of the 6,236 asylum seekers currently staying in the East Midlands are in hotels, according to the latest figures seen by the BBC.

The government has come under pressure to clear the backlog of cases.

Mo Ashtari, a refugee from Iran, said speeding up the asylum process would benefit everyone.

"[People] could sooner go into society and start a new life," he said.

"They can find a job and pay tax, something positive for the country."

Mr Ashtari said he had spent two years in the asylum seeker system - something he said was a difficult lifestyle.

"You don't know where you live, your job, relationships, you can't make any decisions about your own life," he said.

Mo Ashtari came to the UK from Iran

Mr Ashtari, who has now settled in Nottingham, said many asylum seekers had a good life in their own country with a job and a house.

He said fleeing to a new country was difficult and had enormous pressures.

"You don't know the language, you don't know the country, you don't know the roads, you don't know anything here," he said.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain.

"We engage with local authorities as early as possible whenever sites are used for asylum accommodation and work to ensure arrangements are safe for hotel residents and local people."