The UK government has refused to reveal the cost of kitting out flats for alleged asylum seekers over concerns of a backlash against migrants.
The independent Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ruled in favour of the Home Office in refusing to abide by Freedom of Information requests about the cost of furnishing an apartment bloc in Hampshire to house some 346 supposed asylum seekers. According to The Telegraph, the flats were said to have been equipped with flat-screen televisions and satellite tv.
John Edwards, the head of the watchdog, said that refusing the FOI request was justified given the potential threat posed to migrants if the public was made aware of how much they were spending on migrant flats.
“While the commissioner appreciates the public interest in the cost of providing accommodation used to accommodate asylum seekers, in his view this is outweighed by the Home Office neither confirming nor denying whether it holds any information falling within the scope of this request,” his ruling stated.
In its arguments to the ICO, the Home Office said that the information was “highly emotive and sensitive” and that previous reports on migrant housing had resulted in public disorder.
“It is common knowledge that vulnerable asylum seekers are targets of reprisals or reactions, and asylum-seeking individuals or groups of asylum-seeking individuals have been threatened and harassed in the past,” the government department said.
It comes as the government is seeking to end housing migrants in hotels and other large scale accomodations such as the Bibby Stockholm barge and the RAF Scampton base.
Instead, the new left-wing government is reportedly considering plans to redistribute migrants throughout the country by in empty houses and unused school buildings.
Critics, such as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, have warned that the scheme will further exacerbate the housing crisis and only serve to increase anger among the young and working class, who would bear the brunt of the effects of the reported plans.
Commenting on the refusal to release information on the cost of furnishing flats for asylum seekers, Reform UK MP Lee Anderson said: “The real risk is to the taxpayer, who is spending millions of pounds per day on people that should not be in the country.
“The fact that the Home Office and Information Commissioner are hiding or suppressing this information is a kick in the teeth for every single hard-working taxpayer in this country. They should have this information. I think they are probably embarrassed about the cost of it.”