UK’s Immigration minister Robert Jenrick claimed on Monday that ‘the UK is essentially full’ while addressing the lawmakers.
The remarks – which can stir criticism – came in response to an MP expressing concern about the housing of asylum seekers in their constituency
The comments came hours after the High Court ruled the government’s Rwanda scheme as lawful
The minister was facing questions on the issue of asylum seekers being housed in hotels and speaking in the House of Commons, Jenrick admitted it was ‘extremely hard’ to find new places for asylum seekers to stay amid record numbers of people arriving in the UK in small boats crossing the Channel.
The minster spoke shortly after Conservative MP Marco Longhi asked him to reconsider ‘the proposal for siting up to 144 illegal immigrants’ in a hotel in Dudley North, his constituency.
“As a result of the good work undertaken by the Home Office in recent weeks to ensure that Manston, the site in Kent, is operating appropriately, we have now been able to implement some simple criteria, including risk to public order or disorder when choosing new hotels, and if there is compelling evidence in that regard then it should be taken into account by the Home Office, but there are no easy choices in this matter,” Jenrick said.
The housing of asylum seekers has been under the spotlight recently after conditions at Manston immigration detention centre were termed “inhumane”.
A man at the site died after contracting diphtheria at the end of November with others complaining about scabies as well.
Estimates confirm that over 40,000 people have arrived via small boats this year.
Earlier, High Court ruled in the government’s favour on the Rwanda policy for asylum seekers, judging the policy as lawful.
The scheme will see some asylum seekers that do not arrive to the UK via established routes to be deported to Rwanda for processing; on the other hand, Amnesty International has described the decision as ‘bitterly disappointing’.
“Shamefully, even in the wake of last week’s tragic deaths in the channel, the government refuses to acknowledge that the more it invests in cruelty, punishment and deterrence, the more it is putting desperate people who have no safe options to arrive in the UK at greater risk,” said Steve Valdez-Symonds, the charity’s refugee and migrant rights director.
