The Skegness Migrant Crisis
In Skegness five hotels have closed their doors to the public and accepted lucrative deals to house migrants. The influx of young migrant men along the Skegness seafront has alarmed many local residents who believe these ‘migrant hotels’ will damage the tourist industry and could put the safety of the towns inhabitants at risk.
The UK government are struggling to find suitable accommodation for the record-breaking numbers of migrants crossing the English Channel. The use of hotels around the country is being justified as a temporary solution to house the growing migrant population whilst their asylum applications are being processed.
The contacts being offered to hoteliers are extremely lucrative with several hotels being offered a million pounds to house the migrants. The migrant hotel contracts are reported to come with conditions such as, closing to the public, cancellation of existing bookings, replacing staff, and providing three meals a day, regular laundry etcetera. The current migrant housing situation is costing the UK taxpayer of more than £6 million per day.
The Hatters hotel in Skegness recently hit the headlines when they went public about the ‘obscene money’ they were made to house migrants and subsequently turned down. Gary and Dee Allen, the owners of Hatters hotel, turned down the offer of £132,000 every six weeks. The hoteliers believe that accepting the government contract to house migrants would damage the wider community and so they refused the deal.
Skegness has recently become the focus of the migrant housing crisis with local residents demanding their local MP, Matt Warman, act and find a solution to the migrant hotel situation. Last week Skegness had a public meeting in which local residents openly complained about the lack of communication, feeling unsafe, the damage to the tourist industry and the strain on public services potentially caused by the influx of migrants to the town.
Along with record numbers of illegal crossings, Britain is experiencing record numbers of asylum applications. This has led to a backlog in the asylum application process which means that many of the new arrivals could end up being housed in hotels for years whilst their applications are being processed.
When somebody is undergoing an asylum application in the UK they are unable to work but are entitled to a number of benefits such as housing, cash support, healthcare, education and child support. The housing of migrants in hotels has sparked outrage in parts the country with many criticising the government for helping migrants instead of homeless British people.
Rebel News UK Reporter Callum Smiles has been reporting extensively on the migrant crisis in the UK and you can see all his reports and more at MigrantReports.co.uk