Numbers of migrants housed full-board in hotels rockets NINEFOLD costing taxpayers tens of millions of pounds a year amid record number of Channel crossings

  • Asylum seekers are being put up in 100 hotels across the UK with full board
  • A surge from 1,200 in March was caused by pandemic and record crossings
  •  Nearly £400million is being spent on housing 40,000 migrants across UK

The Home Office has forked out tens of millions of pounds putting up thousands of asylum seekers in hotels with full board.

A huge surge in the number of migrants needing accommodation at the cost of the taxpayer has added fuel to the fire that the current immigration system is 'broken'.

Nearly 10,000 people are now being put up in 100 hotels across the UK, a nine-fold surge from the 1,200 in March, amid high numbers of Channel crossings.

The Home Office has forked out tens of millions of pounds putting up thousands of asylum seekers in hotels with full board. Pictured: migrants crossing the Channel this month

The Home Office has forked out tens of millions of pounds putting up thousands of asylum seekers in hotels with full board. Pictured: migrants crossing the Channel this month

The asylum budget has doubled in the last six years to nearly £1billion, The Telegraph reported.

Many millions are being spent on cancelled flights or legal aid for asylum cases.

Nearly £400million of the budget is being spent on housing for 40,000 migrants as well as 19,400 failed applicants, with some mounting several appeals over their applications.

The figures have been compiled by the House of Commons Library and think tank Migration Watch.

Nearly 10,000 people are now being put up in 100 hotels across the UK, a nine-fold surge from the 1,200 in March, amid high numbers of Channel crossings

Nearly 10,000 people are now being put up in 100 hotels across the UK, a nine-fold surge from the 1,200 in March, amid high numbers of Channel crossings

The findings have led to renewed demands for overhauling the current asylum system.

Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch, said: 'The shambles in the Channel adds to the strains on an asylum system which is already at risk of collapse.

'Reform is needed to end asylum abuse and to stop the waste of taxpayer money.' 

The surge in the use of hotels this year was partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic after the Home Office and contractors stopped asylum seekers from moving from their current properties.

But it has also coincided with a record 8,500 migrants crossing the Channel this year, seven times the number from the previous year.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has admitted the current system is 'broken' and has promised reform

Home Secretary Priti Patel has admitted the current system is 'broken' and has promised reform

The Government must legally house them even though the majority later see their asylum claims rejected.

Home Office figures show 60,000 asylum seekers and failed claimants received furnished accommodation with bill and council tax paid this year, treble the number from 2011-12.

Asylum cases have also rises from 60,400 five years ago to 110,000 in 2019-20.   

Home Secretary Priti Patel has admitted the current system is 'broken' and has promised reform. 

Estonian passenger cruise ship, the Silja Europe (pictured) could hold around 1,400 migrants, officials believe

Estonian passenger cruise ship, the Silja Europe (pictured) could hold around 1,400 migrants, officials believe

It comes as the Home Office is considering opening offshore transit centres including decommissioned ferries to house Channel migrants.

They could get 'hotel-style' room service on two earmarked ships at a cost of £140 per night, according to The Sun.

One possible vessel is an Estonian passenger cruise ship, the Silja Europe, which officials believe could house around 1,400 migrants.

The other is an Italian ferry which could hold 400 people. 

It is understood they could be anchored off Portsmouth.

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