UK immigration: Home Office hotel fed children worms

A report published by The Guardian reveals that children accommodated in a Home Office hotel were fed worms by a government contractor. It’s understood that a four-year-old, who unknowingly ate fish and chips containing worms, started vomiting shortly after eating the meal. Paramedics were alerted and took the boy to a hospital.

Describing the experience, his father said that his son had ‘experienced sickness along with a fever for three days’, and that other family members who had consumed the same meal were experiencing similar symptoms. The family have asked to remain anonymous amid the shocking revelations.

Government contractor, Serco, provided the meal to the family in a hotel located in the Midlands. Since the incident in June, the family has since been rehoused by the Home Office. Environmental health officers examined the food and found that it contained ‘parasitic round worms’.

Unpleasant experience 

A council environmental health officer who was alerted to the issue, said: “Cooking generally kills these worms. However, I appreciate that it is an unpleasant experience to come across one in your meal.” The officer went on to say that they would visit the hotel to carry out spot checks. 

The family went on to make a formal complaint to Home Office contractor, Serco. In response, Serco said: “We can confirm there was an insect of some kind in the food and the hotel were made aware of it at the time. Apologies were given at the time and the housing officers will quality-check the food before service.”

However, the father of the family described the incident as ‘very distressing’, saying: “The food in the hotel was very bad and we had to call the paramedics after my four-year-old son ate the meal and started vomiting.”

One of many problems 

The contaminated food is just one of many problems to have surfaced in hotel accommodation for asylum seekers provided by the Home Office. 

A recent report published by the Refugee Council highlighted that hotel use by the Home Office for asylum seekers tripled in 2021, with many occupants raising concerns about poor standards.

Meanwhile, many asylum seekers have raised concerns directly with The Guardian about family members who have been accommodated in separate hotels. One woman said that she was split from her husband and two children aged five and 12.

The father of this particular family told The Guardian: “Our children need their mother very much. We have applied to Migrant Help [a Home Office helpline for asylum seekers] for our family to be accommodated together in the same hotel but there was no response.”

Home Office officials said: “Now this case has been brought to our attention we will work to house them together.”

Hotel staff entering rooms without permission

Elsewhere, asylum seekers have complained about hotel staff entering their rooms and filming their possessions without permission. One family of asylum seekers lodged a complaint about Home Office contractors, Clearsprings, for such an incident.

The family said: “They are abusing our rights.”

However, the Home Office refuted the family’s claim, and said hotel staff entering rooms was a ‘standard part of welfare checks’.

Commenting on the contaminated food incident, Serco’s contract director for asylum seeker accommodation, Jenni Halliday, said: “Clearly this food is unacceptable and should have never been served to the asylum seekers at the hotel.”

“We have apologised to the family concerned and we are working with the hotel management to ensure that all food meets the required standards,” Ms Halliday added.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “Asylum seekers are provided safe, secure accommodation funded by the UK taxpayer. We expect high standards from all our providers and will look into this specific case.”

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