LONDON: The British government has “lost control” of its asylum system, a local politician in Wales has said.
Councillor Martyn Palfreman called on Westminster to “get a grip” of the asylum system after his council lost a High Court bid to stop a local hotel being used to house more than 240 asylum seekers.
Protests erupted outside the Stradey Park Hotel in the Welsh town of Llanelli, which was being used by the UK Home Office to house asylum seekers because the nationwide system was “under incredible strain,” it said.
“The Home Office is committed to making every effort to reduce hotel use and limit the burden on the taxpayer,” a spokesman said.
“My plea would be with the UK government to get a grip on an asylum system, which they have clearly lost the grip of,” Palfreman told the BBC. “In terms of what happens next and the asylum seekers’ arrival in Llanelli, the honest answer is I don’t know.”
He continued: “We’ve been told previously they will be arriving next week, we don’t know any more details in terms of the composition of the group that will be arriving or exactly when they will be arriving.”
The member of parliament for Llanelli, Dame Nia Griffith, said the decision from the High Court on Friday was “disappointing,” adding that it was “particularly upsetting for the residents who live closely to the hotel.”
The former commissioner for racial equality in Wales, Aled Edwards, told the BBC a conversation was needed with people in the community to allay “irrational fears” and “address legitimate ones” surrounding asylum seekers.
“If we spend the time explaining to people what people’s backgrounds are, what they can offer us, what they can bring us... I think it could become much better,” he said. “But there is a toxicity to the debate around the globe that is not good.”
