Britain’s asylum system is a national embarrassment

Editorial: Forcing asylum seekers to share hotel rooms with strangers is another pitiful example of how far we have fallen short in our obligation to treat them with fairness, dignity and compassion

A child runs outside a hotel in Heathrow, west London, housing asylum seekers as they wait for their claims to be processed (AFP/Getty)

The incompetence and inhumanity of the British asylum system continues to be a standing national embarrassment. This week alone we have reported on a contractor who worked for the Foreign Office in Afghanistan, who was accepted on the settlement scheme and put up in a hotel in Pakistan, only to be told at the last moment that his clearance to come to the UK had been issued in error.

We then revealed the government had reversed its policy of leaving Afghans granted refugee status stranded in Pakistan – following The Independent’s coverage of the issue – and was scrambling charter flights to rescue them from an unsafe situation.

Now, we report that the government’s plan to cut the use of hotels by forcing asylum seekers to share rooms has been branded dangerous by a cross-party committee of MPs.