'Horrifying' treatment of Palestinian family-of-seven fleeing Gaza conflict - booted from asylum hotel day after speaking to journalists
The Blackpool Lead has exclusively revealed the family was moved the day after speaking with ITV News – with just two hours' notice.
A family of Palestinian refugees fleeing the brutal war in Gaza were evicted from Blackpool’s controversial Metropole Hotel asylum facility the day after they spoke to ITV News journalists about their living conditions, in a move campaigners have called “horrifying” and “inhumane”.
Here at The Lead, we have extensively covered the shocking conditions inside the historic Blackpool hotel that is now being used to house asylum seekers. In July, a whistleblower came to us with explosive allegations of the “terrible” state of the building and damning photo evidence showing black mould, crumbling ceilings, and floodwater in the basement suspected to contain raw sewage.
ITV News picked up on our story and spoke to a mother and father of a family-of-seven from Palestine who arrived in Blackpool earlier this year. The day after doing the interview, the family were kicked out of the hotel with just two hours’ notice.
Serco – the outsourcing firm that manages the Metropole on behalf of the Home Office – says they were moved due to concerns over their behaviour, but the family believe they are being punished for talking to the media and raising concerns.
But The Lead has seen evidence that the concerns about behaviour, which allegedly included the man ‘pushing’ a member of cleaning staff out of his room and the father strongly denies, were not raised until 24 October – the day after the ITV interview.
On the same day, two warnings were issued and the family was put in taxis and moved instead to the Madeley Court Hotel in Telford.
The father, a teacher by trade who asked for the family not to be named, tells The Lead: “This is retaliation for speaking to the media. We did one interview and showed problems at the hotel, and another two days [later] then they move us. Management were angry with us. They said I “pushed” a cleaner, I was helping with sweeping.
“I deny pushing and I believe this complaint was used against us. It feels like an arrangement between hotel management and Serco to get us out.”
The family left Gaza for Iran in early 2024 to escape as the area was being reduced to ruins. It was when they were faced with being returned that they turned to the UK, arriving by plane to London in September 2024. They were placed in accommodation at Daresbury Park in Cheshire - another asylum hotel - until its closure in early summer 2025 when they were moved to Blackpool.
The eldest daughter in the family had been studying at college to convert her nursing qualification to British standards as part of her efforts to adapt to British life. Now, she has to try to continue her studies remotely from Telford in accommodation that does not come with internet access.
The family has told us conditions at Telford are worse than the Metropole. Other issues include belongings being left behind, and the family being housed in separate parts of the new hotel.
“We cannot understand why, after all the hardship and pain of seeking asylum, we are made to live in such conditions,” adds the father.
The Joint Council for The Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) said that it is horrifying and inhumane for a family fleeing conflict to be treated in this way.
A spokesperson for JCWI told The Lead: “It’s horrifying that this Palestinian family, fleeing Israel’s brutal settler colonial regime, is being treated so inhumanely, especially right after they raised concerns about poor hotel accommodation in national media.
“The government’s asylum policies are trapping people seeking safety in cruel and degrading conditions. Such policies only benefit private corporations like Serco; instead the billions of pounds wasted on border control and hotel accommodation should be redirected towards safe, permanent and affordable housing for everyone in our community, including those who are here seeking refuge and safety.”
The Lead understands Chris Webb, MP for Blackpool South, is investigating the circumstances behind the move.
Serco denies staff had any knowledge of the interview – which took place in plain sight outside the hotel front door – and says they weren’t made aware of it until it aired in November.
A spokesperson for Serco said: “Serco will not tolerate aggressive behaviour or behaviour that causes a danger to others. Where this occurs, we sometimes need to move asylum seekers to alternative accommodation.”
Samantha Arden, who previously worked for Serco at the Metropole, told The Lead: “In multiple cases of serious misconduct, immediate relocation or dismissal did not follow.
“By comparison, what’s happening to this family feels disproportionate”.”
The Home Office declined to comment on the move when approached by The Lead.■
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It's the Home Office that should be brought to account for this. Serco will not admit or do anything. There needs to be a collective attack with evidence and massive publicity against Serco to force the people at the HO to do something and hopefully withdraw the contract the government has with the company