Our director, Mark, criticised the egregious Home Office failures that led to vulnerable refugees being transferred to an Oxford hotel with no prior planning or consultation.
Mark Goldring, director of Asylum Welcome, told The Oxford Mail, “it is absolutely right” that Oxford should welcome more refugees and asylum seekers but added that the Home Office has prioritised “politics over practicality”.
Earlier Asylum Welcome had signed an open letter calling for the sacking of the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, over the overcrowding and inhumane conditions at Manston detention camp.
“It’s right [that] places with low refugee populations should play a part,” Mark said. “We are keen to support the Home Office [in housing asylum seekers]. However, we think the planning for this [group] has been extremely poor.”
The fact people were arriving as the council found out about it is not the welcome that people deserve.
Asylum Welcome is now working with local authorities to assist these refugees in whatever ways we can.
Read the full article here.