Fury in UK village as migrants move into £500,000 cottage near school | UK | News

Horrified residents of a leafy English village are furious with Labor and the Home Office after they “secretly” housed migrants in a £500,000 cottage; One of them was later arrested for allegedly harassing female students. Residents and councilors in sleepy Laleham, Surrey, said they knew nothing about plans to resettle refugees, some from Afghanistan, just 200 meters from the local primary school.

And the villagers’ fears were justified after an Afghan refugee in his 20s was arrested outside the Multi-Occupational Home (HMO) for allegedly harassing female students in the area. Police reportedly told the immigrant to stay away from school, but later detained him on suspicion of harassment after he returned to school. He has now been transferred to a secure facility under the Mental Health Act.

Moving migrants to HMOs across the country is part of Labor’s push to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers; Home Secretary Alex Norris said it was “out of control”; It was a move critics called “Operation Dispersion”.

A parent from Laleham told The Sun: “This is mind-boggling. I don’t understand why you would put asylum seekers in the middle of a small village with nothing to do and nowhere to go.”

“The first duty of a Government is to keep people safe, but we don’t think that’s a safe thing to do.”

The small Surrey village is home to around 2,500 residents and is located about five miles from Heathrow Airport.

The riverside village of Laleham, mentioned in the Domesday Book, has two pubs, a quaint tea room, a bowling green and a traditional Morris dancing group.

The HMO, a terraced country house, was converted by housebuilders earlier this year after being bought by a property developer for £501,000 last October.

The house was built in the 1920s and was used as a family home for almost 100 years. It is thought to have been rented to a Ministry of Internal Affairs contractor tasked with finding a “dispersion site”.

One neighbor said: “We knew the house was being sold and suspected it would be an HMO. We know they need to be placed somewhere, but they have no chance of being integrated into this community.”

The Afghan national was reportedly seen hanging around the school during drop-off and pick-up times for several days, according to concerned parents.

Long-term resident Terry Hunt, 80, said: “This is the wrong place to put asylum seekers. As a taxpayer I think the person making these rules hasn’t looked at the paperwork or the situation.”

“A lot of people spent a lot of money on this village to live here. To say suddenly there are refugees and we’re going to put them in empty houses, that’s not right.”

William Wood, 40, has a boy and a girl at school. He said: “It’s not a good place for an HMO. Some parents went and spoke to the man and asked him what he was doing.

“This makes you think you need to be there to pick you up, drop off and so on. This is a worrying situation. There are a lot of letters that have been sent but they all seem to go unanswered.”

Other parents described starting to drive their children to school rather than letting them walk, even if they lived a few hundred meters away.

Police have been seen passing the school every morning and afternoon since last week’s incident to ease fears.

The issue was raised at the PMQs this week when Lincoln Jopp, Conservative MP for Spelthorne, asked the Prime Minister: “Who was responsible for the risk assessment that got him there? Who messed it up and who can I hold responsible?”

Sir Keir Starmer responded: “Obviously this is a live police investigation and I know the Asylum Secretary is monitoring this case very closely.

“Can I reassure him that all accommodation must comply with contractual standards and that the Home Office is working with the police to manage all sites safely?

“Local authorities will be consulted before any accommodation is provided and any offers may be objected to.”

Mr Jopp also wrote to Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood outlining Laleham residents’ concerns about the safety of their children in the community.

He wrote: “I would be grateful if you could investigate this urgently and also confirm that appropriate safeguarding checks are in place on all HMOs used by the Home Office in Spelthorne.

“I would also like to add that such settlements should not be built near schools.”

Last week the Government announced it was closing 11 asylum hotels and sending many applicants to live in army barracks and HMOs.

Spelthorne Borough Council said: “Protecting our children, alongside the police, remains our top priority.”

But in a public message the local authority added: “This appears to have happened without the normal risk assessment and communication from the Home Office to local agencies.

“The council has written directly to the Home Office demanding an explanation and assurances that this will not happen again.”

Local councilor Sinead Mooney said: “This has come out of the blue to elected members of the council.

“We think this is a genuinely inappropriate location and we asked what mechanisms are in place for local councilors and MPs to raise their concerns when a clearly inappropriate location is identified.

“This all comes down to parents asking questions about activities outside of school.”

But a Home Office spokesman insisted: “Spelthorne Council was consulted before this accommodation was provided.

“We urge anyone who witnessed unacceptable behavior to report it to police as soon as possible and we remain in close contact with Surrey Police regarding this incident.

“As the government increases the use of military barracks, illegal immigrants are being moved into basic accommodation.”

Surrey Police confirmed: “A man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of harassment last Thursday.

“The man, an Afghan national, was detained under the Mental Health Act following further assessment and is currently awaiting further treatment and assessment in a secure facility.”