Labour’s policy blamed for migrant ‘harassing’ girls | UK | News

Parents in a quiet Surrey village have raised concerns after a man was repeatedly seen loitering outside a primary school and approaching schoolgirls. The incident has raised wider questions about how asylum seekers are being housed as part of Labor plans to move people from hotels to residential areas.

Residents in Laleham, near the River Thames, reportedly contacted police after reporting a young Afghan man standing near the school gate and becoming aggressive when challenged. The parents claimed he spat at them and suggested paying £3,000 to be smuggled to England gave him the right to stand wherever he wanted. Locals claim he told them: “I’m allowed to stand wherever I want – I paid £3,000 to be here.”

It was later reported that he was arrested and detained under the Mental Health Act after police said he did not heed warnings.

It was later revealed that he was housed in a nearby house with five other immigrants.

A. Daily Mail The investigation found that the property, a semi-detached house from the 1920s, was bought by a private landlord for £500,000 before being let through an agency by the Home Office to house immigrants settled there.

Spelthorne Borough Council said they were not informed or consulted about the arrivals. In a statement, the council said it had written to the Home Office asking for “an explanation and assurance that this will not happen again”.

The case in Surrey is one of several highlighted as part of concerns over Labour’s dispersal policy aimed at reducing the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels.

According to plans, immigrants are moved to housing in towns and villages.

Residents of Walderslade, Kent, have been told that more than 200 asylum seekers are expected to be placed in homes in Tonbridge and Malling boroughs. According to figures cited by the Daily Mail, 221 migrants are expected to arrive on residential streets in a largely rural area.

Some properties are reportedly being converted into Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO), allowing more than one person to live in a single home.

Planning permission is not required as the buildings are already residential; This means councils have limited power to prevent the use of these buildings for refugee accommodation.

Clearsprings Ready Homes holds the Home Office contract to provide housing for asylum seekers in southern England and Wales. The company is buying and renting private homes as part of a move away from hotel use.

The Home Office said it was working to close asylum hotels and move people to “essential accommodation such as military barracks”.

A spokesman said: “This government is removing the incentives that attract illegal immigrants to the UK and stepping up removals.

“We will therefore close all asylum hotels and move refugees to essential accommodation such as military barracks. All local authorities are being consulted regarding dispersed accommodation.

“The population in asylum hotels fell by nearly 20 per cent last year, and by 45 per cent since the peak under the previous government, with costs down by around £1bn.”

However, some citizens think that they are not given enough information.

In Laleham, parents say they only learned that immigrants had moved to the village after the incident outside the school.

This increased criticism of Labour’s new immigration policy; Opponents argued that dispersing asylum seekers into settlements without clear communication risked creating tensions.

The Home Office has not commented directly on the Surrey case but maintains its policy is aimed at cutting costs and ending the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers.

The Express has contacted the Home Office for comment.