A Home Office accommodation provider has launched an investigation after “English nationalist” content creators posing as contractors filmed themselves entering a property housing asylum seekers.
asserted
themselves → launch → seekers
The video, titled “HMO Hunting in Leicestershire”, was posted to the Truthhurts101UK YouTube account, which describes itself as being run by an “English nationalist citizen journalist” and claims to cover “immigration, demographic change, policing and stories others overlook”.
uncertain
others → title → immigration
The footage was also posted to the associated TH101UK’s X account, where is has been viewed more than 300,000 times.
asserted
is → post → account
The video shows three men accessing the back entrance of a house in Leicestershire accommodating asylum seekers.
asserted
men → show → seekers
The men enter via an unlocked back door and move through several rooms of the house, including the kitchen, where they examine the contents of the fridge.
asserted
they → enter → fridge
They repeatedly claim to be looking for “paperwork”, searching through a pile of letters near the front door and boxes discarded in the back garden.
uncertain
They → claim → garden
The man filming, who narrates the video, claims he is the first to “document” this property.
uncertain
he → film → property
When the men filming encounter three men, who are believed to be asylum seekers living at the property, in the kitchen they tell them they are contractors sent to assess the property for repairs.
asserted
they → film → repairs
They ask one man living at the property whether the property is run by Serco, a Home Office contractor used for asylum seeker accommodation, which the man confirms, and whether he has “paperwork”, which he says he does not.
asserted
he → ask → paperwork
When the man living at the property asks the man filming for his ID he briefly shows him a lanyard.
asserted
he → live → lanyard
It is unclear what information it shows.
uncertain
it → show → information
In the footage, the man filming specifically names the street and the village where the house is located, and shows the exterior of the property and its surroundings, making it clearly identifiable.
asserted
it → film → property
A Serco spokesperson said: “We are aware of this post.
asserted
We → say → post
We take issues of this nature extremely seriously and are investigating.”
asserted
We → take → nature
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The safety and security of those housed in asylum accommodation, staff who work there and local communities are of the upmost importance to the government.
asserted
who → say → government
We engage extensively with contractors, local authorities and the police and expect any instances of criminality to be taken seriously.”
asserted
instances → engage → criminality
A TH101UK spokesperson defended the footage, accused the asylum seekers of being “ticking timebombs” and questioned why the Guardian, which they described as “irrelevant” and a “rag”, was “scrutinising independent journalism”.
asserted
they → defend → journalism
They added: “Don’t worry, I’ll keep asking the questions you should be.”
asserted
you → add → questions
In recent years, there has been an increase of self-styled “auditors”, and far-right activists have attempted to gain access to hotels and other forms of accommodation housing asylum seekers, sometimes under the guise of wanting to carry out “inspections”.
When challenged, often by private security outside hotels, some have attempted to confuse the issue by quoting supposed “common law” principles, which have been taken up by members of the far right as a legal recourse that supersedes statutory laws.
However, the increasing use of houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) as part of the government’s plans to phase out the use of hotels to house asylum seekers has given some of these activists a new target, with some obtaining addresses from publicly available documents and sharing details with one another in online groups.
asserted
some → style → groups
TH101UK entered another asylum seeker property in Norfolk several months ago and posted footage online.
asserted
TH101UK → enter → footage
After the Guardian brought the footage to the attention of YouTube, a spokesperson confirmed that it breached its standards, and said that it had been removed from the platform.
asserted
it → bring → platform
A YouTube spokesperson said: “Harassment and cyberbullying are not allowed on YouTube and as part of this, we do not allow content that reveals someone’s personally identifiable information.
asserted
that → say → information
Upon review, we have removed the flagged video for violating our harassment and cyberbullying policies.”
asserted
we → remove → policies
Louise Calvey, the executive director of Asylum Matters, expressed concern about the video.
asserted
Calvey → express → video
She said: “This is a premeditated invasion into someone’s home for clicks and attention.
asserted
This → say → clicks
The people that court this are the very worst of us, they’re the ones the pose a threat – barging into people’s homes, filming in people’s private spaces.
asserted
the → court → spaces
“Government must urgently take steps to improve protections, remove the details of shared accommodation sites of all descriptions from the public domain, support people accommodated as victims of crimes, and escalate quicker police responses.”
asserted
Government → take → responses
The Aporia
