Refugees in Kensington and Chelsea left without medical help and survive on £40 a week

By Jacob Phillips, Local Democracy Reporter

Refugees are being left without medical help and have to survive on just £40 a week in one of London’s richest boroughs, a councillor warned.

Labour councillor Mona Ahmed said asylum seekers in Kensington and Chelsea are “not being given legal advice or psychological support” with some refugees being trapped in hotels since lockdown.

She added that doctors and lawyers are concerned about conditions in hotels run by a private contractor and raised that asylum seekers’ needs are also not being assessed before they are placed in temporary properties.

There are currently 578 asylum seekers, including 68 children, predominantly from Syria and Iraq in contingency hotels in the borough, according to council documents.

Cllr Ahmed said asylum seekers from the middle east and North Africa are “languishing destitute” in hotels while Ukrainian refugees have been safely placed in people’s homes.

She said in a motion: “There has been a huge sense of solidarity as well as practical help for those displaced from Ukraine and forced to seek refuge which has been extremely positive and we welcome the council’s efforts with the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme which has meant that these individuals are now safely housed.

She added: “While those arriving from Ukrainian are given safe passage and welcomed into homes, asylum seekers predominantly from Syria and Iraq have faced unimaginable traumas just to arrive on our shores only then to be left destitute in an indefinite torturous lockdown in contingency hotels described as inadequate.”

The council first opened their doors to Afghan citizens fleeing the Taliban in August 2021. The council also began welcoming Ukrainian refugees three months ago.

The councillor has called for asylum seekers in the borough to be able to live with dignity and be given the same rights as refugees fleeing war in Ukraine.

She also asked Kensington and Chelsea council to conduct a full review of the conditions asylum seekers are facing and that a care package is put together to help people remain in the borough if they want to.

The politician has also asked the government to work closely with them to find suitable homes for refugees and to ensure all evacuees and refugees who have a legal right to stay in the borough are treated with equal respect and care.

The motion is set to be discussed at Kensington and Chelsea’s next full council meeting after being adjourned last night (October 12).

Pictured top: Kensington town hall (Picture: Hannah Neary)