Rotten food given to asylum seekers charity finds

Asylum seekers are being left malnourished and in some cases hospitalised due to rotten or contaminated food provided by the Home Office, charity focus groups have found.

Their situation has been described as "degrading and dehumanising" with mothers reporting they were unable to feed their children, a report by food poverty alliance, Sustain has revealed.

Significant weight loss, food poisoning and development of diabetes was also reported with little to no access to any kitchen facilities frequently raised as a key issue.

The Home Office has said the food provided in asylum hotels meets all the NHS Eatwell standards.

"After the hotel, I stayed at a BnB. I was not allowed to cook inside, even when my kid was sick and vomiting, I couldn’t do anything, just had bread and butter," one resident explained.

In some cases fruit was rotting and attracting flies, meat was raw, food had insects. Residents found use-by dates had been deliberately concealed.

One resident said: "Out of a whole batch of apples, there will always be only one good one, the rest are gross."

Another commented: "If you complain about expired food, they say 'this is all we have'."

"That food’s expired, we’ll give it to refugees. If it’s not okay to give to other people, why is it okay to give to refugees?" another said.

Allergies, gastrointestinal health conditions and diabetes were "routinely" ignored despite repeatedly brought to the attention of hotel staff and despite hospitalisations and medical letters.

One participant who was destitute, sofa-surfing and living purely off support from charities explained that he needed to eat at regular times for his medication but this often wasn’t possible.

He explained: "I’m diabetic and a heart patient. I’m on 14 tablets medication. How can you take your medication with enough – well, most times I don’t eat but I just have to take it.

"If I don’t take it for two days, it’s serious effects on me. I’ve had two heart attacks."

The focus groups, made up of 29 participants, were from different regions of the world, between the ages of 18 to 69, living in various parts of London and at different stages of their asylum request.

Some had claimed less than a year ago, and others have been waiting for more than 10 years.

Approximately half of participants had dependent children in the UK.

Parents with infants reported not having access to facilities to appropriately sterilise, prepare and store infant formula, or store breastmilk.

Pregnant or breastfeeding mothers said they could not get any more support or additional food.

A local healthcare provider, unnamed for its protection, has been providing support for child nutrition for asylum seekers in London.

"We are supplementing children with nutritional supplements and vitamins because we know that people aren’t getting enough.

"Earlier this year, they changed the milk provision from whole milk - proper milk - to powdered milk and that was purely made on a financial decision so that people stopped drinking as much milk 'cos it was costing too much," the provider explained.

Director at Jesuit Refugee Service UK, Sarah Teather, said: "This report lays bare the horrifying impact of food insecurity for people in the asylum system: children going to bed crying in hunger, people becoming ill because of the only food they can eat, a daily struggle to make ends meet.

"These are ultimately the result of a deliberate policy to force people seeking asylum to live in poverty."

Though having only recently become an area for asylum dispersal accommodation, London has a relatively high ratio of people seeking asylum to population (24.7 per 10,0000) compared to many other parts of the UK due to the large number of asylum hotels, with the greatest number housed in Hillingdon, northwest London.

Rights for asylum seekers changed in the UK last July when the Illegal Migration Act 2023 was passed.

If fully enacted, asylum seekers without a visa will automatically have their claim rejected if they do not arrive in the country with a visa.

They are then expected to leave Home Office accommodation and can face homelessness and destitution.

The Refugee Council estimates that the act would leave at least 161,000 people seeking asylum at "significant risk" of destitution within the first three years.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Asylum seekers in hotels are provided with three meals a day, and additional provisions for families with a baby or toddler.

"The food provided in asylum hotels meets all the NHS Eatwell standards as well as responding to all cultural and dietary requirements.

"Where concerns are raised about any aspect of the service delivered in a hotel we work with the provider to ensure these concerns are addressed, while asylum seekers have access to a 24/7 helpline to raise any concerns they have and are able to make formal complaints which will be followed up."

Have you been affected by the issues in this story? Please email [email protected] to share your story.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, external, X, external and Instagram, external.