Mother in Home Office limbo tells how poor food in hotel has left her son malnourished, depressed and isolated
A mother has told how her teenage son became depressed, isolated and malnourished after two years in limbo in a Home Office hotel.
The 18-year-old is said to have quit football and university and withdrawn from everyday life after struggling to keep himself afloat due to malnutrition.
The couple, originally from Trinidad, lived on bread, cheese and milk because the food quality at the immigration hotel was so bad that her son vomited after every meal, his mother said.
Health experts, including a GP and a psychiatrist, have warned that the pair should be housed in self-catering accommodation to help with their low mood and nutritional problems, but these requests have so far been rejected.
A GP letter from the local surgeon, seen Independent, He says that the young man “has not gained any weight for six months, despite his growth.”
He added: “He says he vomits with every meal. He shows signs of vitamin deficiency with chapped lips and nails.”
Another letter, from a different doctor at the local practice, states that the mother “cannot eat the food given by the mother.” [the] At the hotel where he was staying due to nausea and vomiting. “He gets no privacy at the hotel and this is affecting his mental and physical health.”
A dietician also wrote to the hotel, requesting that the family have access to healthy foods such as tuna, carrots, cabbage, peas, tomatoes, oranges, peaches and grapes.
The mother, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “We live on bread, milk, cheese and sometimes bananas and instant ramen noodles. Our bodies are weak, my son and I don’t eat properly, we eat the same thing over and over and sometimes you don’t even feel like eating.”
The mother, who has just completed her English education and is about to start taking math classes, said the following about her son: “He entered the football academy, he was very excited. He went to training a few times. He left on the first day and when he returned, he said he had nothing left to eat but bread. He quit his job because he could not spare his last energy for playing football.”
“The coach was calling to get him back, but he made up his mind. He’s getting depressed right now because he’s not doing anything.”
“She used to confide in the psychiatrist, but he doesn’t talk to her much anymore. So they got together to write her a letter of support because they noticed she was deteriorating mentally and physically.”
The 40-year-old mother and her son fled Trinidad after the son’s father was killed in gang violence and sought asylum after arriving in the UK by plane in 2023.
The mother’s wife, who has helped raise her son from the age of two, lives in a separate Home Office hotel in London after arriving in England in 2024.
The family wanted to reunite, but they are still living apart. They cannot visit each other regularly because they cannot afford train fares on their £9.95 weekly allowance.
Describing his separation from his partner, he said: “Every time we see each other, we only have a few hours to appreciate it. This has left a huge gap in our lives.”
The mother and son’s hotel in Bedford is run by Clearsprings Ready Homes, one of three companies contracted by the Home Office to provide accommodation for asylum seekers. Clearsprings operates services in the south of England and a recent parliamentary committee report reveals the value of the 10-year contract for that region has risen from £0.7bn to £7bn since 2019.
Clearsprings and two other shelter providers in the UK have made a combined profit of £383 million since 2019, according to the National Audit Office.
She said she called 111 in July after her son stopped talking to anyone and had been locked up for months. She said the call operator persuaded her to go out to play with the hotel children, but a disagreement caused her to become even more isolated.
His son argued with two brothers, and the brothers told workers at the hotel reception that his son had pulled a knife on them. “I got a call to come to the hotel reception and they told me they had sent a report to the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the incident. My son said he didn’t have a knife and we asked to see the CCTV but the hotel staff said the cameras were not working. I asked them to call the police because I wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on.”
He said the children admitted to lying to the police, but the police could not see what was happening because the cameras were broken. “He’s become more withdrawn since then because he doesn’t know who to trust.”
Independent has previously reported cases of malnourished and stunted children in asylum hotels. In one case reported to MPs, a man using a catheter had to spend more than four hours a day in the bathroom because hotel food worsened his digestion. She requested to be moved and was not relocated and had to call emergency services twice due to pain.
A Home Office spokesman said: “This government will close all asylum hotels. Work continues, with more suitable locations being brought forward to relieve pressure on communities.
“We continue to work with police, community partners and hotel providers to address the concerns raised.”
Clearsprings Ready Homes referred requests for comment to the Home Office.
