Top 10 misconceptions about people seeking asylum in North East Scotland…
Adapted from materials from the Community Integration and Advocacy Centre.
❶ “They’re living in luxury hotels at our expense!”
Fact: Hotel accommodation for asylum seekers is typically in budget hotels or repurposed facilities. Rooms are basic, frequently cramped, and often shared between two strangers. Residents have no kitchen access and very little privacy. Some also have problems with damp, poor heating, and cockroaches.
❷ “They get £40 a day spending money.”
Fact: Asylum seekers residing in hotels receive £9.95 per week in cash to cover necessities like bus tickets, toiletries and phone credit.
❸ “They’re taking hotel rooms from paying guests.”
Fact: The government specifically contracts hotels that have available capacity or are unsuitable for typical guests. Most were not fully booked prior to their use.
❹ “They should be working to pay for their stay.”
Fact: Asylum seekers are not allowed to work while their claims are being processed — a policy decision rather than a personal choice.
❺ “They’re just waiting around doing nothing.”
Fact: The majority of asylum seekers aim to contribute positively. Many engage in volunteering, learning English, or participating in community organisations, despite facing significant uncertainty.
❻ “We’re spending millions on them!”
Fact: The high costs associated with hotel use come from a broken and backlogged asylum system, not from the individuals in the system. Delays perpetuate a state of limbo, resulting in increased long-term expenses — some of which goes into profit for the private companies that run the asylum hotels, where they cut corners wherever possible.
❼ “They’re given better treatment than our homeless.”
Fact: Asylum seekers are housed in hotels due to the government’s legal obligation to accommodate them. Homelessness is a separate issue, arising from another set of political choices. Both issues need to be addressed — one should not be used to justify neglect of the other.
❽ “They’re all men of fighting age.”
Fact: Asylum hotels also house families, women, and children. The narrative surrounding “fighting-age males” is often intended to incite fear rather than accurately represent the situation.
❾ “They could have stayed in a safe country.”
Fact: International law does not require a person to claim asylum in the first safe country they come to. The vast majority of refugees around the world stay close to their country of origin, but individuals arrive in the UK for a variety of reasons — language, family connections, historical ties, or safety concerns elsewhere. It’s worth noting that the UK hosts a very small number of refugees compared with most other countries. More information can be found on the UNHCR website.
❿ “They’re pretending to be refugees to get free stuff.”
Fact: The vast majority of asylum seekers are legitimate refugees fleeing war, torture, and persecution. Their claims undergo individual assessments based on stringent criteria.
Asylum seekers in hotels are not leading luxurious lives — they are enduring hardships while awaiting safety. The core issue lies not with those in the hotels, but rather with the prolonged circumstances that have led them there.