This short film was made by the Greater Manchester Asylum Hotels Group and Stand & Be Counted Theatre. The group, which is supported by GMIAU, is made up of people with experience of living in asylum hotels.
‘We are a group of people who have come to the UK to seek safety and have spent time living in asylum hotels while we are waiting for a decision on our asylum claim. We want to communicate with people in our new communities because we are aware that some people in the UK are not happy about there being asylum hotels in their area. The protests outside hotels make us feel unsafe – but we also know that the protesters do not speak for everyone in Britain.
That’s why we believe it is time for people to hear our side of the story. We are grateful that we are housed, and we do not want to complain. But we need to share information about what life in hotels is really like because we know that there is a lot of misinformation about asylum hotels in the media and on social media.’
Read the full statement here.