Last week, on 28th January 2026, Migrants Organise brought together a powerful turn out of 60 people for the launch of the Hostile Housing report at the St. Luke’s Community Centre in Islington, London.
The night was about celebrating the work of our member-led Housing Justice Group, and sharing the learnings of our report- which lays bare the stark realities of what it is like to live in asylum “hotel” accommodation.
Co-authored by Migrants Organise and Medact, with research led by general practitioner and population health researcher Dr Joanna Dobbin, the report argues that the “for-profit model” is delivering an agenda of hostility and “containment over care” which is contributing to what researchers term “triple trauma”: trauma from conflict, trauma during migration, and trauma induced by Britain’s hostile asylum system.
Our members were very much part of the research, and through a survey we spoke to 60 people living in various types of asylum accomodation- predominantly hotels.
People who took part in the research and developing the report were hosting, speaking and facilitating throughout the night.
Our member and trustee, Nanou, led us through the evening with her trademark passion and charm. We heard from our other members Dunstan, Moses and Violet about their experience of asylum accommodation and what brought them to housing justice organising at Migrants Organise.
Their experiences were as varied as the speakers themselves touching on the connections between material housing conditions to mental health, social care , rights and autonomy, privacy, nutrition, and wellbeing.
Communities Not Camps!
It won’t surprise you to learn that the use of the word ‘hotel” is entirely misleading.
What hotel controls your behaviour, limits your diet and tells you that you don’t deserve to be there? The lived experiences of our members expose how the conditions of these “hotels” are based in containment and are often spaces of harm. The people we met during the creation of this report shared some shocking realities (all names have been changed):
“The hotel is like a prison, I don’t go out much, at 8am you have to go and queue to get food, I sit and eat and then have to go back to your room, again at lunch, it’s always the same. This is bad for my stress, I am always stressed, sitting in the room… if you do not register for the meal, they tell you they will report you to the Home Office… I feel alone and like a prisoner and a slave in my housing.” Reza (Male, Hotel)
“Sometimes you are forced to eat the food, you will go hungry if you will not eat it…Sometimes I skip all the meals, as it is always the same thing. Sometimes I feel like vomiting as I am fed up and don’t like the food.” Yusuf (Male, Hotel)
“Yes I’m suffocating a lot, I’m 31 week pregnant in very small room where there is no ventilation … I have breathing issue because of this” Amina (Female, Hotel)
Our launch
The housing group at Migrants Organise developed the agenda for the night and we had a number of people facilitating small group discussion around attendee’s experiences of asylum accommodation, what they think needs to change and how to build power with others to achieve that.
Dr. Joanna Dobbin gave an overview of the research, the methodology and the careful consideration that went into designing and conducting it.
We were lucky to have a set of wonderful performances from the Woven Gold Choir, a choir of people seeking asylum and refugees from all around the world, who had us all moving along with them.
The range of people included people seeking asylum, doctors, medical researchers, organisers, campaigners, advice and support workers, and people from a few different local authorities among others.
People engaged and connected with the powerful testimonies and left with a desire to be part of the solution to a more just housing system for all.
Dignity in Housing
Some of the things they’re asking for are basic things we should be able to take for granted like being able to make their own food or being able to open a window for ventilation.
Behind this, we recognise private companies have no place in this system. They will always put profits over people.
People need to be housed in communities, same as every other person in the UK, in decent and dignified housing that gives them the stability to build a life.
Since the launch we’ve had several people join our organising groups from that evening, opened up opportunities for collaboration with other organisations and got a glimmer of hope for the kind of world we can build together.
Photography by Bex Clarke Photography
The Migrants Organise Housing Justice campaign demands safe and decent housing for all. It’s time to put people over profit!
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For organisations wanting to join the campaign, contact Jawad@migrantsorganise.org
