Migrant hotels: taxi rides for NHS appointments illuminate strain on asylum system

London — Migrants housed in asylum hotels have described being sent hundreds of miles by taxi for medical appointments, at a cost to taxpayers described as excessive. A failed asylum seeker in an unnamed hotel used by the Home Office told the BBC he had been sent on a 250-mile, £600 taxi ride for a knee check.

Other migrants in hotels visited by the broadcaster said they were working in Britain, despite being barred from taking employment. An Iraqi man identified as Kadir to protect his identity said he would have preferred to go to his NHS appointment by train but had no choice but to accept the transportation arranged by the Home Office. The taxi journeys occur because when migrants move between hotels they sometimes keep the same NHS doctors, the BBC reported. Kadir's journey was to see a consultant who had treated him at his old address, and the driver said the round-trip had cost £600. He asked whether the Home Office should provide a train ticket, calling the arrangement the easy way and saying they know they spend too much money. The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, became a focal point for anti-migrant protests last month. Kadir and his wife had two children when they arrived in the UK from Iraq nine years ago and have had a third since. The family occupies two adjoining hotel rooms — one for the couple and their baby, and the other for a 12-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son.

A migrant accused of sex offences in Epping sparked protests about the use of the hotel last month. In a separate development, the migrant has been sentenced today. Kadir said he worked as a translator in his home country and claimed he had been targeted by criminals. His asylum claim was rejected by the Home Office due to lack of proof. He has had two appeals rejected, and has a third appeal underway. Mohammed, from Afghanistan, said he had arranged a job even before he arrived in the UK a few weeks ago. After using contacts provided by his cousin, who was also working illegally in Britain, Mohammed said he was earning £20 a day for shifts that last up to 10 hours. He told the BBC he had no choice because his family owes money to people traffickers. One security guard at one of the hotels said: You have nothing to occupy these guys. So of course they’re going to go out there and work. Journalists and the public are barred from Home Office migrant hotels but the BBC said it had gained access through migrant contacts who had made the journey across the English Channel from France.

At the end of June there were just over 32,000 people in taxpayer-funded hotels, up eight per cent in a year. The Home Office has also said an all-time high of 111,084 asylum applications were lodged in the year to June, up 14 per cent on the previous 12 months. Despite rising numbers, Labour has said it will close all migrant hotels by 2029. In August Epping Forest District Council won a temporary High Court injunction to stop migrants being placed at The Bell hotel, in Epping. But the Home Office successfully challenged the decision at the Court of Appeal, and the hotel remains open pending any further legal action. The amount of taxpayer's money spent on asylum support fell to £4.76 billion in 2024-25, down from £5.38 billion the previous year. But costs are massively higher than a decade ago, when the figure stood at less than £475 million a year. The Home Office was approached for comment.