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Andy Burnham says the ‘sense of chaos’ around the immigration system ‘cannot be good’ after some asylum seekers in Greater Manchester said they felt ‘unsafe’. A group of asylum seekers released an open letter via Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit on Tuesday (October 29), which said protests over the summer made them feel ‘unsafe’, but were grateful for being housed in the city. The wide-ranging, 1,000-word statement also said many asylum seekers live on less than £10 per week, and most want to get jobs to ‘contribute’ to the economy — but claimed the ‘government does not allow us to work’. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE Now, Andy Burnham has reacted to the open letter by calling for the Home Secretary to change the way refugees are housed. “I think we all should have concerns about the amount of money going into this poorly managed system and the profits made out of it. I have seen examples in Greater Manchester where really substandard properties are being let out to rake in money,” he told BBC Radio Manchester on Thursday (October 30). “The really over-the-top politics about it should just be look at the issue, deal with the issue. Where things are wrong, fix the issue.” The mayor repeated calls to work more closely with the government to reform the system. He added: “I would be open to working with [the Home Secretary] and asking the councils to do the same. There must be a much better way to bring the cost right down and take some of those excessive profits out of the system. “One of the companies was reporting three-figure-millions in profit recently on the back of providing this accommodation. That cannot be right. “It cannot be good to have a sense of chaos in the system as it feels there is right now.” Previously, the mayor said it is ‘scandalous’ the ‘Home Office dismissed concerns’ from local councils ‘and ran roughshod over’ them to open hotels. The government is currently closing hotels, but more than 100 remain open across the country.
