Hungry and malnourished: asylum seekers plead for help

Asylum seekers in Hackney say they’re having to depend on the food bank because the hotels they’re staying in aren’t providing enough food.

Hackney Foodbank regularly supports asylum seekers from countries including Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt, Somalia, Iran, Tunisia, Bolivia and Columbia whose hotels are supposed to provide adequate meals.

They include Sara and Masiha who fled persecution in the Middle East last year with their two young sons. While the Home Offices processes their application for asylum, they’re not allowed to work and the family receives just £36.40 per week (£9.10 per person) for expenses such as clothes, hygiene items and travel. 

Sara said: “The hotel we stay in is meant to provide us with food but they don’t give us enough and what we do get is very bad. It’s often so salty or spicy the children can’t eat it. We haven’t had cooked vegetables since we arrived. Just salad twice a week.  Even looking at the food upsets you. My sons are still growing but they’re not getting enough vitamins or protein.  I worry for their health.”

The rooms at the hotel have no cooking facilities; just a kettle and a sink.

Masiha, a torture survivor, has frequent hospital appointments and much of the family’s weekly allowance goes on travel. 

Sara added: “There’s no money for clothes or shoes and the children are growing. We can’t cook in the hotel so, when we can manage to, we buy foods that can be eaten cold and we never have fresh food.  We go hungry so our children can eat.  We need help – we need people to hear our story so they help.

“We’ve asked the hotel staff to give us more food and better food – they say it’s not their fault; that it’s down to the Home Office. We are so thankful to the food bank for the help they give us.”

Pat Fitzsimons, CEO of Hackney Foodbank, said: “Sara and Masiha are among many asylum seekers in Hackney who say the food they’re given is too little and barely edible.  We are currently providing emergency food parcels for many families of asylum seekers from hotels across the borough and they all say the food at their hotels is insufficient. It is appalling that asylum seekers are becoming malnourished and that the system is failing to provide for their most basic needs.”

In a report into the conditions faced by migrants, the charity Migrant Voice interviewed more than 170 asylum seekers in London.  Many described the food as: “almost inedible” and smelling “rancid.”

The report added: “People with children struggled to feed them, as the food was too spicy for children or inappropriate, and lacking nutrition, for toddlers and babies being weaned.”

Sara and Masiha say they feel trapped. Other asylum seekers they’ve met have had to wait up to three years to be granted the right to remain and, until then, they’re hungry and unable to build a future. 

Eden Munro, Asylum Seeker Support Programme Manager at Hackney Council, added: “Food provision in Home Office hotels is consistently among the top issues raised by residents, and is clearly not acceptable. People give different reasons for this - whether it is about the quality, freshness, monotony, portion size or suitability for their dietary needs. 

“The Home Office’s accommodation in London is managed by Clearsprings Ready Homes who say that all of their food meets a nutritional standard but, even if this is the case, we know that food needs to be more than this. It is clear that these hotels are not equipped to provide food that truly nourishes the people in their care, and this is a serious issue when residents have to stay there for months or even years, and have no kitchen facilities to cook for themselves.

“It’s no surprise that residents turn to local food banks and other parts of the community for support, and the feedback provided by colleagues at Hackney Foodbank has been invaluable in shedding light on the issue. Hackney Council set up a new team for Refugees, Migrants and Asylum Seekers in May and food culture in the hotels is one of the top priorities. We are grateful that Hackney Foodbank are working with us to find solutions - we will be exploring methods of auditing the food provided in the hotel to advocate for improvements, as well as opportunities for people to cook and be cooked for outside the hotel.”

Responding to the concerns raised by Hackney Foodbank, the Refugee Council said the Home Office refuses to reveal a breakdown of the running costs of hotels, which makes it difficult for external bodies and NGOs to scrutinise value for money.

They said the guidance is that people should get three meals per day and have access to fruits and drinks (water/tea/coffee and specific meals should be provided for children, people who have allergies, and dietary requirements because of their religious beliefs.

But they added: “Quality as well as the amount of food people get varies between hotel sites, even if they are run by the same provider. This is most likely to happen when providers use sub-contractors.”

Hackney Foodbank has approached the Home Office and Clearsprings Ready Homes for a comment.

Hackney Foodbank is currently feeding around 650 people per week. To donate, visit www.hackney.foodbank.org.uk/give-support