Immigration minister says poorer areas have taken 'fair share' of asylum seekers

UK Immigration Minister Anna Turley said that poorer areas have taken their 'fair share' of asylum seekers, and future placements may need to be in more affluent areas. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.

In an interview on BBC Breakfast, Turley said that areas like Blackpool (where the Grand Metropole Hotel was until recently used to house asylum seekers) have already taken their 'fair share' of migrants. She backed the point made yesterday by Andy Burnham about the need to house more asylum seekers in affluent areas in the future.

Principle of fairness

Turley said the issue is about fairness, and the government will not ask anyone to take more than they can. "I think this is about fairness, and we won't be asking anyone to take more than they can," she said.

She stressed the need to consider infrastructure and what is manageable with the local community when determining how many asylum seekers each area can take. "It's about their fair share, and we have to look across the country at what is appropriate for areas to take, what is the infrastructure, what is manageable with the local community. So this is about fairness," the minister added.

Moving away from hotels

Turley also defended the government's intention to switch from using hotels for asylum seekers to placing them on industrial sites or former military bases instead. "The priority for us now is making sure that we look after asylum seekers in a secure place, in a place that is much more appropriate and where we limit the impact on local communities," she said.

Context

Yesterday, Andy Burnham suggested that more asylum seekers would need to be housed in more affluent areas in the future. This proposal was criticized by the Daily Mail. Turley's statement today comes amid this discussion.

The UK government continues to reform its asylum accommodation system. Plans are underway to move away from hotels and towards specialized centers. These measures aim to reduce the burden on local communities and provide better conditions for asylum seekers.