Perth and Kinross Council has called for “an immediate rethink” of plans to double the number of asylum seekers in two Perth hotels.
It comes after councillors were told around 250 young men of different nationalities, cultures, ethnicities and languages will be “forced to live cheek by jowl” in shared rooms at the Station and Queens Hotels from September 11.
Councillors unanimously supported a cross-party letter being sent to the Home Secretary and Immigration Minister.
Members are also calling for financial support from both UK and Scottish governments towards the cost of housing asylum seekers.
Tabling the motion, Perth and Kinross Council deputy leader Eric Drysdale said the Station Hotel and Queens Hotel had been used to house 118 single men of 15 different nationalities – most in their teens or twenties – since November 2021.
“The majority have now been accommodated there for over a year,” he said.
“Unforgivably, only four of these 118 have so far received decisions on their asylum applications.
“These numbers are about to increase to around 250.”
Mr Drysdale said the UK Government’s new “maximization policy” would mean most having to share rooms from September 11.
He added: “It is not difficult to envisage additional problems that may ensue when unrelated young men of different nationalities, cultures, ethnicities and languages are forced to live cheek by jowl.”
Asylum seekers ‘not to blame’ for Perth problems
Mr Drysdale said previous funding of £700 per person had been stopped. And he said Perth and Kinross Council had been unable to access an additional funding stream.
“Neither PKC nor COSLA has been able to obtain clarity or assurance from the Home Office,” he added.
“This situation is intolerable.”
Perth City Centre councillor Peter Barrett said the system was putting demands on local health services. But the Lib Dem member said there had been no funding support from Westminster or Holyrood.
However, Labour councillor Brian Leishman expressed concern about some local reaction to the situation in Perth.
The Perth City North councillor said: “Asylum seekers aren’t in Perth to steal from us.
“They aren’t the reason we have a housing shortage. They aren’t the reason pay has stalled and inflation is driving people into poverty.
“They aren’t the reason why the NHS is de-funded to the extent that nurses are using foodbanks.
“They aren’t the reason why shops are closed on Perth High Street.
“These vulnerable people are however being demonised by this government,” he added.
“And worryingly – when looking at some of the online comments on the story of the two hotels that asylum seekers are in – it shows that there are some who swallow this government’s nastiness hook, line and sinker.”
Conversation