Behind the doors of asylum hotels - what I found when I went inside

"As I eat a meal cooked on the floor of a shower, I realise nothing has prepared me for what life is like for the residents of an asylum hotel. I have been invited to join Kadir and his family for dinner - not in the hotel restaurant, but up in the rooms where he lives with his wife, Mira, and their three children. An electric cable, covered in thick insulating tape, has been extended into the bathroom."

"Behind the door, Mira is crouching over a small cooker in the shower tray. Pans are precariously placed on a hob and she is stirring away. As a pan full of oil starts to spit, I worry about the smoke alarm, but I needn't bother. The sensor in the room has been sealed tight with plastic bags. This set-up is illegal and unsafe, but Kadir tells me his family would rather take the risk and make their own meals."

A family cooks on the floor of a shower using an extended electric cable and a small cooker, with the room’s smoke sensor sealed with plastic bags. Residents commonly cook in rooms illegally and risk hazardous set-ups because hotel restaurant food is considered poor quality and causes illness. Strong smells of herbs and spices permeate corridors, indicating widespread undercover cooking. Two hotels housed families and two accommodated mainly single men. Many residents have waited in the UK for nearly a decade for asylum decisions. Some people have had babies believing it would automatically secure mother and child residency.

Read at www.bbc.com