Home Office resumes asylum hotel evictions despite freezing weather

Exclusive: Sadiq Khan calls refusal to extend three-day pause ‘horrifying’ as local authority cold weather protocols continue

The Home Office has been urged to reintroduce a pause on asylum hotel evictions after resuming the practice in recent days, leaving refugees out on the streets in subzero temperatures.

In December the Home Office said in a letter seen by the Guardian that it would halt evictions from asylum accommodation for up to three days while severe weather emergency protocol (SWEP) was activated by a local authority. SWEP is activated when the Met Office forecasts a temperature of below 0C for a minimum of three nights.