Asylum seekers in Yorkshire 'left to starve and eat food chewed by relative'

Dr Rizwana Lala, who is also running to be Labour’s candidate for Sheffield Central, detailed the experiences of severely malnourished asylum seekers living in Home Office accommodation in the city during a full council meeting yesterday.

On behalf of Medac Sheffield, she said: “I think we are all aware of the horrifying scenes that have come out of Manston but I am here today to talk about the local picture in terms of the conditions that asylum seekers in Sheffield are living in. We as frontline NHS workers are raising serious concerns about the welfare of those seeking asylum in Sheffield, in particular those who are currently residing in Home Office accommodation.

“The use of unsuitable accommodation is well documented in Sheffield and we know this can lead to tragic consequences. Recently we have come across many instances of unsuitable accommodation. We have been working with migrant organisations who are telling us that GPs are unwilling to go into the accommodation because it is so dirty and unsanitary that they are worried about the welfare of other patients through infectious diseases.”

She shared the story of a 17-year-old girl who had severe malnutrition and severe trauma because she was not fed properly and despite being only 17 she had no support worker assigned to her. Dr Lala then shared the story of an extremely vulnerable older woman with dementia who also had severe malnutrition. She said the woman needed to be fed with a medical feed but the Home Office did not provide it, leaving her son to chew food and feed it to her instead.

“I know this is really graphic but people need to understand the conditions people are living in Sheffield accommodation,” Dr Lala said. “It is really upsetting as frontline health workers when we are coming across these stories. Sheffield has a proud history of being a City of Sanctuary and we want to know what the council is doing to ensure the welfare of the asylum seekers that are coming to our city.”

Councillor Angela Argenzio, co-chair of the adult health and social care committee, replied: “We are aware of what’s going on out there but it’s always important to be reminded about what really happens on our doorstep. I totally agree with you and I think we need to do all we can to use the leverage we have to put pressure on what is effectively a directive from national government.

“Our relationship with the local NHS bodies is very strong and it’s getting stronger. But we are always prepared to ask people questions and we are organising some meetings to ask those questions. I will certainly ask questions of colleagues in the NHS to see what we can do – as a council, not very much but we can put pressure on and ask those difficult questions.”