UK Home Office records 10 daily assaults on asylum seekers: Guardian
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UK Government data obtained by The Guardian reveals nearly 6,000 assaults on asylum seekers in Home Office care since January 2023, sparking concern over safeguarding failures in UK asylum accommodation.
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Migrants pictured on a UK Border Force patrol boat on arrival at the Marina in Dover, January 10, 2022. (AFP)
An investigation by The Guardian revealed that the UK Home Office is recording an average of 10 assaults per day on asylum seekers in its care, according to internal government data, raising serious concerns about asylum seeker abuse in the UK amid increasingly harsh immigration policies.
The report detailed that between January 2023 and August 2024, 5,960 assault referrals were made for incidents involving asylum seekers under Home Office responsibility. Additionally, 380 referrals related to hate crime victims were reported to the department’s internal safeguarding hub during the same period.
The figures, obtained through freedom of information (FoI) laws, also reveal that the Home Office received 11,547 reports of individuals identified as victims of trafficking, and 4,686 reports of individuals who had experienced torture.
Daily abuse reports in asylum accommodation
The reported incidents highlight systemic concerns within asylum accommodation in the UK, particularly as the government continues to implement increasingly strict measures against those arriving by boat across the Channel, according to The Guardian.
These include forced removals, the threat of returning individuals to third countries, and policies involving the deprivation of citizenship.
Steve Smith, CEO of the charity Care4Calais, described the statistics as "appalling" but unsurprising. “Our local groups raise serious safeguarding concerns with the Home Office and its contractors virtually every day, but it feels like they are routinely ignored,” he said.
Systemic failures in home office safeguarding
The Guardian reported that Separate FoI data obtained by Care4Calais shows that in 2024, the Home Office received 1,476 complaints flagged as serious by the charity Migrant Help, which has a government contract to assist asylum seekers. Of these, 367 involved allegations of misconduct by contractors.
These numbers may underrepresent the actual scale of abuse and mistreatment. Many asylum seekers choose not to report issues, either fearing a negative impact on their asylum claims or due to previous experiences of inaction when reports were made.
While a Home Office safeguarding source acknowledged that individuals could be referred more than once, the department maintains that it enforces a zero-tolerance approach to harm or abuse within asylum housing, as stated on its official website.
Reports of sexual harassment and unsafe conditions
According to The Guardian, an ongoing inquiry by the Home Affairs Select Committee is examining conditions within asylum housing. More than 100 pieces of evidence have been submitted, including reports from individuals and organizations.
In its written evidence, the British Red Cross criticized what it described as an "inadequate safeguarding culture." Many asylum seekers reportedly felt "physically or psychologically unsafe" in government-contracted accommodation.
The Red Cross documented several cases of refugee rights violations, including inappropriate behavior from staff and sexual harassment. One asylum seeker described a "pervasive culture of sexual harassment experienced by women and girls" in a hotel, with no meaningful action taken when incidents were reported.
Other examples include a security guard injuring an asylum seeker in a fight, a man discharged from a hospital after a suicide attempt in a windowless room that exacerbated his mental health issues, and a woman with disabilities forced to collect leaking water multiple times a day.
Government response and ongoing inquiry
Kamena Dorling, policy director at the Helen Bamber Foundation, expressed concern over the high number of safeguarding referrals related to trafficking and torture survivors. “We have long warned of the risks people face in harmful asylum accommodation, including self-harm and suicide, but little action has been taken,” she said.
A Home Office spokesperson responded, “Where there are concerns about the welfare of individuals, they can be referred to the asylum safeguarding hub, which allows the Home Office and its partners to address their needs and provide relevant support. We take the welfare of those we are responsible for very seriously, and the safeguarding hub plays an important part in that.”
As the parliamentary inquiry continues, advocates and organizations are calling for urgent reforms to address the serious flaws within the UK’s asylum accommodation system, according to The Guardian.
