Image copyright Getty Images Image caption
It is understood that 11 migrants taken from Kent to London are now staying in a hotel in Norwich
By Mariam Isimdar and Matt Pressey
BBC News, East
A group of migrants mistakenly taken from Kent and left stranded in central London have been brought to the Norfolk city of Norwich. How Norwich, which is part of City of Sanctuary Great Britain diagram, answers?
It is understood that 11 migrants, believed to be from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, are currently staying at a hotel in Norwich.
The Home Office says the group initially told officers they had somewhere to stay.
Image copyright Danial Abbas Image caption
The group of migrants could be seen holding blue plastic bags containing their belongings in London
“The situation was not good”
Image caption,
Afghan migrant Hasibullah was taken to Norwich in the middle of the night after first being stranded in London
Hasibullah, a 24-year-old student from Afghanistan, was one of 11 taken from Kent to London.
“I was with other people in Dover for 25 days, then I went to Victoria station in London. They told us [we were going to] hotel there,” he says.
“I don’t understand, but the bus driver told us to get off.”
He says he didn’t know what to do when he arrived in London.
He was told to “find his own way,” he says.
He recounts how the police arrived and closed the station before two taxi drivers arrived to pick them up and tell them they would be taken elsewhere.
That place was Norwich.
He came to the UK on a six-metre (18ft) boat with around 80 or 90 other people on a journey that took around seven hours.
He fled Afghanistan, he says, because of the Taliban, and his family borrowed €3,000 to pay human traffickers to take him to the UK.
“The situation was not good,” he says.
Asked what he expects to happen now, Hasibullah says: “I don’t know.”
“I want to stay here and I don’t want to go back to Afghanistan,” he adds. “I want [from] the government paid little attention to us because we have more problems in Afghanistan.”
“We are a united estate”
Image caption,
Rachel Anderson, 51, lives near the hotel used to house the migrants
Rachel Anderson, 51, lives near the hotel used to house the migrants.
“It’s a surprise to hear about it,” says Ms. Anderson. “I wish there was more communication and I was told about it.
“I don’t know who these people are, so I don’t know what else it involves — just the fact that we’re not being told enough.
“It’s a property community and it’s very close to the hotel.
“I don’t want to judge people who come, but we’ve had situations before because we’re a close-knit estate – and if you’re going to put people in a hotel near a close-knit estate, who knows what might happen?”
“They have to be housed somewhere”
Image caption,
Paul Skinner says migrants must be ‘housed somewhere’
Paul Skinner, 50, owns a local business.
“My opinion is that they should be housed somewhere and they are living in terrible conditions where they came from.
“Obviously I also feel concerned about local people who also have their own housing issues. And there’s a conflict of interest there, with views on both sides, but ultimately it’s a terrible situation.
“The situation is difficult.
On the spot: Alex Dunlop, BBC East
I parked near a hotel in Norwich where I had earlier seen about a dozen migrants standing outside in small groups chatting and/or smoking.
I approached three men who said they were from Syria.
I asked them if they knew about the 11 migrants who came to Norwich from London.
One of the Syrians indicated that he knew about the 11 and that they were in the same hotel. However, his English was so limited that it was hard to be sure.
About 10 minutes after my arrival, two members of the hotel security approached me. Shortly thereafter, they asked all hotel guests who were outside, even those in the hotel’s fenced yard, to come inside
When I asked security why, I was told it was for a “name check”.
Every migrant I subsequently approached was quickly asked to come indoors. Minutes later, a couple who tried to leave were advised by a doorman to stay inside.
Soon after, I was asked by the security staff – who were always very kind – to leave.
I asked to speak to the hotel manager but was told he was not allowed to speak to me.
They suggested I direct my questions to the Home Office.
“They shouldn’t be here”
Image caption,
Philip Warhurst says he thinks migrants are getting preferential treatment
“They shouldn’t be here. As simple as that,” says Philip Warhurst, who is retired.
“My boy, who is 31 and working, can’t afford a house. No way. But they can just walk in and take it and that’s it.
“He pays all his dues and demands, but they do not.”
“Looks a bit of a mess really”
Image caption,
Barber Tom Sade says he insists on paying in advance for a haircut
Tom Sade, 28, runs a barber shop and says he has had many migrant customers.
“It really does look like a bit of a mess,” he says. “They just dropped them off at the hotel.”
He says there have been cases where migrants have come in for haircuts without enough money to pay.
As a result, it now insists on prepayment by card.
“For them [the migrants] it must be confusing for us English people and for business.
“They’ve just been dumped in Norwich, they have no idea where they are and they’re just wandering the streets, bored and trying to find something to do.
“I’d like it to be okay, let’s take them somewhere official, not hotels.”
The BBC has reached out to Norwich City Council, but the authority has not yet responded.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The welfare of the people in our care is of the utmost importance and asylum seekers are only released from Manston when we have assurances that they have accommodation to go to. Any other suggestion is wrong.
“We worked at pace to find accommodation for people as soon as we were notified and they are now being supported.”
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