Scarborough: Refugee group concerned over evictions

About 40 refugees remain at a hotel in Scarborough

A group working with Afghan refugees has urged the Home Office to halt moves to force them to leave a hotel in Scarborough.

About 40 refugees are due to leave the hotel by 16 August.

The Refugee Council said many of those people were being put at risk of "being left homeless and destitute".

The Home Office said hotels were not a long-term solution for refugees and it had worked with councils on hotel departures.

Those working with the refugee families said it remained unclear how many would still be living at the hotel on Wednesday.

The Home Office issued the refugees with "legalistic, untranslated eviction notices" in May, the group said.

"The eviction of Afghan families from hotels is very concerning as it puts them at risk of being left homeless and destitute on our streets," a spokesperson for the Refugee Council said.

"This is not how those who fled the Taliban and were promised a warm welcome in the UK should be treated."

They urged the government to "halt evictions until accommodation is secured" for Afghans still in hotels.

Thousands have fled Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in April 2021

North Yorkshire Council has made homelessness referrals for several families at the hotel and others are waiting to hear back from councils elsewhere or are planning to present as homeless in other parts of the country.

The situation has improved since May when there were about 90 refugees still at the hotel, the Refugee Council said.

This was due to working with a range of organisations to secure rental properties and jobs for a large number of families and the government has also provided each refugee with £7,000 to fund accommodation.

North Yorkshire Council's corporate director of community development Nic Harne said they wanted to reassure people that they would provide temporary accommodation as required for any refugees left homeless when the hotel closes.

A Home Office spokeswoman said hotels were never designed to be used as long-term accommodation for Afghans resettled in the UK.

"We have worked closely with local authorities and NGOs on the hotel departures and we are all in agreement this is the right thing to do for the taxpayer and for Afghans," she said.

She added that the Home Office was providing extensive support, backed by £285m in new funding, to "speed up the resettlement of Afghans" into permanent accommodation.