Asylum seekers living in Bristol are set to receive a wealth of benefits, including free English lessons, housing advice, free SIM cards, guidance on GP appointments, and employment workshops. The perks given by the Green Party-run council will see over half of the city’s asylum seekers receive these taxpayer-funded freebies.
The extra support is planned for approximately 850 of the city’s 1,133 asylum seekers. This is despite the council saying the perks will only be given to a “very small number of highly vulnerable” people. The chair of the local authority’s children’s committee, Christine Townsend, said it was Bristol’s “legal duty” to provide such help due to a large number of the asylum seekers being children. Whilst other cities across the UK are trying to block migrant hotels, Bristol is about to consult the public on extra support for asylum seekers.
Green councillor Ms Townsend pointed out that more than half of asylum seekers in the city are children, with the majority living in three hotels funded by the UK Home Office.
“So it’s a very small number of highly vulnerable and highly traumatised people, who we have not only a moral duty, but also legal duties towards,” Christine Townsend added.
One part of the council’s planned sanctuary strategy includes hosting workshops in the community to address concerns, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
The total number of asylum seekers in Bristol is around a third of a size of one school year in the city.
Ms Townsend said: “Year 11 is one year group out of 14 school years. The number of young people who have just picked up their GCSE results is just over 3,300. Currently in Bristol there are 1,133 asylum seekers. So the number of asylum seekers living in Bristol is one third of one year group within our schools.
“That gives us some good context about the actual reality of the numbers of people who we are talking about — when it comes to a population that’s just gone over half a million. So it’s a very small number of highly vulnerable and highly traumatised people, who we have not only a moral duty, but also legal duties towards. 81 per cent living in hotels are families.
“Of the 1,133 asylum seekers, 689 are children in our schools. To put that into context, particularly given the current climate, I thought was quite an important point to make.”
The public consultation is due to launch on Monday September 1, lasting for six weeks. Then the children’s committee will approve the final strategy after considering the responses.