Asylum seekers forced to sleep in 24-bed hostel rooms in South London despite Covid risk

Hundreds of asylum seekers placed in a South London hostel are being forced to share bedrooms with up to 23 other people, the Independent has exclusively learned.

About 500 men are currently staying in the hostel despite the facility having been deemed unsafe to house rough sleepers last year due to the risk of coronavirus spreading.

Video obtained by The Independent captures rows of bunk beds inside a small bedroom.

Southwark council wrote to Priti Patel last Thursday demanding “urgent intervention” stating housing hundreds of people there posed “immediate risks to both the safety and of those residing [there] and the wider community”.