Government spending almost £40,000 a day housing 310 Afghan refugees in Milton Keynes hotels

'Please find these families proper permanent homes' plead councillors
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Leading local councillors have revealed the government is spending nearly £40,000 a day housing 310 Afghan families in hotels in MK.

And they are urging officials to now find "proper" permanent accommodation for the families, who were all evacuated from Kabul as the Taliban seized control last summer.

Almost 600 men, women and children were sent by the Home Office to Milton Keynes to make temporary home in three different hotels in Milton Keynes - and the city welcomed them with open arms.

Some of the grateful Afghan men, women and children pictured outside their MK hotel last SeptemberSome of the grateful Afghan men, women and children pictured outside their MK hotel last September
Some of the grateful Afghan men, women and children pictured outside their MK hotel last September

Many of the families, who average between six and eight children apiece, arrived with nothing after the nightmare rush to leave their country, and MK people were swift to respond to an appeal and provide everything they needed.

The Citizen spoke to some of the families at the time and they expressed their heartfelt thanks and were looking forward to a brighter future.

But months on, many are still waiting to be moved on from the hotels, said councillors from MK's Labour/Lib Dem Progressive Alliance this week.

Figures have revealed the government is currently spending £4.7m a day housing the Afghan families in hotels across the country.

Nationally, there are 37,000 asylum seekers and refugees still living in hotels, according to the Home Office. Some 310 of these are in Milton Keynes.

On average, the government is spending around £127 per person in a hotel each day, bringing the total daily spend in Milton Keynes to £39,370, say the Progressive Alliance.

MK Labour councillor Emily Darlington, who is Cabinet member for Adults, Housing and Healthy Communities, said: “These Afghan families kept our troops safe when they were in Afghanistan and would have suffered repercussions for their actions at the hands of the Taliban.

"Residents have welcomed them to Milton Keynes and have been overwhelmingly generous with donations. The UK Government promised to care for them and placed them in hotels in MK temporarily. More than six months later, these families are still living in hotels with no end in sight. The government is failing them.”

She added: “£4.7 million pounds each day is nearly £1.7 billion a year. It makes no moral or financial sense, all the while families are still stuck in hotels months after they’ve arrived, when they should be in suitable accommodation. It is completely unacceptable.”

Liberal Democrat Councillor Paul Trendall helped organise donations of clothes, toiletries, and other essentials for Afghan families that came to Milton Keynes last summer.

He said: “The fact that we’re now seeing reports that the Home Office will stop providing Afghan families with free access to toiletries and medication is utterly heartless. Families with small children are trying their best to help their families through the trauma experienced and worrying about the family members left behind. How are they supposed to do that while living in a hotel room with no certainty about their future?”

“As a former Warrant Officer, I know the valuable service these families have provided to our armed forces. We promised them better and they deserve better.

"It is a complete disgrace.”