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Outside of a hotel in the UK countryside, in front of balconies with clothes hung to dry, a group of boys and young men cheerfully play football on a chilly afternoon. Kicking the ball, they shake away the stress of grief, conflict and terror while they otherwise stand lingering for a decision on their asylum applications. Nearly 150,000 people are currently waiting on an initial decision from the Home Office, with more than 100,000 of them housed in accommodations around the country, while controversy around the asylum system has spiked.

Express.co.uk approached hotels housing asylum seekers to speak with them and witness the conditions they live in, as well as the physical and mental health burdens they carry.

21-year-old Mehdi Hassan* is an Iranian-Kurd and has been staying at the hotel for five months.

He says: “I am good here, I have a place to sleep and the staff are all very helpful. It is safe and I am being given eight pounds a week. But I can’t work because I am still waiting for my asylum application.”

Mehdi then describes the hotel room where he lives with one other person, and it is obvious he feels incredibly thankful for all that is provided to him.

He adds: “I have a shower and a toilet, hot water, anything I can need is there,” pointing to the hardship he has been through before he got to this point.

Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Rishi Sunak called the government’s spending on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers “appalling” and announced plans to utilise surplus military bases, disused holiday camps and former student halls of residence, to create accommodation spaces for about 10,000 people, in an initial phase.

This hardly represents a tenth of the dire number of people trapped in the asylum system – a backlog that grows day by day since way fewer applications are being processed than those submitted.

The Home Office only processed 16,400 cases in the past year, forcing thousands of other people in limbo, with some having already stayed in hotels for more than a year.

Asked about his life in Iran, Mehdi says he used to work as a farmer, but instantly talks of the oppression in his home country: “The government is very bad, we have a big problem. It’s very bad…,” he says as he looks to the ground.

And Mehdi went on trying to talk about the massive protests and Kurdish separatism in Iran in simple words.

He said: “People are being killed by the government – there is fighting everywhere every day. My father was captured by the government. Because we are Kurdish, the government kills us… I don’t know… Why? My family is still there and I haven’t spoken to them not once since I left my country.”

He adds: “I am safe here, I have someplace to sleep and I have food, and the other people at the hotel are like family to me now. I want to live and work in the UK because it’s safe here.”

Next to Mehdi stands his friend, with whom, he says, he was together when they arrived from France to the UK. He translates for him as he can’t speak English.

Mehdi’s friend, Diya Rahman, is only 19 years old. He jokes about his looks and they both laugh when being told they are young, although no age is appropriate for someone to be forcibly displaced.

He teases Diya saying he looks like a 30-year-old and they both laugh – seeming calm and content.

Asked if Diya feels happy to be here, Mehdi translates: “Yes. I am in safety in the UK and in the hotel and I have everything we need. I am waiting for my asylum applications but until then, we are okay.”

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Asked how they arrived in the UK from France, Mehdi says “by lorry” and again stumbles over his words and pauses as he looks down, only to say: “I don’t remember. It was very stressful – my life was in danger. I don’t want to talk about this”. 

Rishi Sunak also pledged to strengthen policing of the borders, without, however, presenting plans to establish safe and legal routes for asylum claimants which would reduce illegal entries.

Reacting to the PM’s statement, Care4Calais said: “Treating refugees as criminals when they have no choice but to travel illegally is victim blaming that is quite frankly sickening.

“People who are brave and resilient enough to have escaped from the worst terrors in this world should not be risking their lives once again to claim asylum in the UK.

“We know it’s possible to give people safe passage – we do it for Ukrainian refugees – so why not do it for other refugees?”

*Name changed to protect identity 

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