IT was interesting to see the huge headlines spread across mainstream news this morning about the 8% rise in the number of asylum seekers in hotels compared to last year – a classic example of reporting figures that don’t tell the full story and end up meaning very little to anyone.
In recent weeks and months we’ve seen protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers increasing and it would seem that all these headlines are going to do is encourage such demonstrations that aren’t really going to change anyone’s minds.
No one actually wants to see asylum seekers kept in hotels, but not for the same reasons the far-right groups are preaching which often centre around saving children.
Refugee and asylum specialist Louise Calvey made the point on TalkTV two years ago and it stands today.
She said: “Every person I’ve ever met who has come to the UK wants to contribute and take care of their family, so why can’t we let them?
“Why can’ t we make these asylum decisions? What is the point in having an Afghan person, an Iranian person, where we know they can’t return to their home country, what’s the point in having them festering in a hotel with far-right screaming abuse and setting light to cars?
“Give them status.”
Every person I've ever met who has come to the UK wants to contribute, work and take care of their family. So why can't we let them? Why leave them to fester in a hotel with the far right screaming abuse at them? Give them legal status and get them going.@LouCalvey on @TalkTV pic.twitter.com/kqfCh04UeT
— New Economy Organisers Network (@NEON_UK) February 19, 2023
Few of the reports out there get to the heart of this problem and are simply reporting figures without a huge amount of commentary to give any substance to them.
The number of people in asylum hotels actually fell slightly in the three months to June – there were 32,059 compared to 32,345 in March. The number of immigrants who came to the UK in the year to June was also 30% lower than the previous year. But it is the 8% rise in asylum seekers in hotels that media outlets have chosen to lead on, with the headline even being dedicated to live blogs in some cases, as if it is a quickly developing story.
It is the fact that it is not developing that is the problem.
There is some acknowledgement in some of these blogs that the headline does not tell the full story, with some detailing the figure in hotels is still comfortably below the record number from June 2023 when the Conservatives were in power and there were more than 56,000 people in hotels.
But in this day and age, headlines, framing and prioritisation are everything. Whether it be right or wrong, it is often more about how you tell a story now than what you tell that sticks in people’s minds.
Breaking news headlines about asylum seekers in hotels spiking are going to do little except fuel the far-right agenda, when our media should be providing robust analysis as to why this situation has been left to fester and ultimately pave the way for the hatred against migrants being whipped up.
