By Martyn Smith

Copyright birminghammail

Dudley’s MP says politicians need to act more quickly to tackle misinformation about where asylum seekers are living in the borough. Sonia Kumar says she understands people are frustrated with the immigration and asylum system. The Labour MP is concerned after recent protests at hotels where people wrongly believed asylum seekers were being housed. Read more: Calls for historic meadow in Stourbridge to be protected Read more: Top politicians exchange blows over saved Midlands health centre Ms Kumar said: “The Superior Hotel was not an asylum seeker hotel, there is no asylum seeker hotel in my constituency that I am aware of. “I have spoken to the Home Office about this, politicians have a responsibility to diffuse disinformation as quickly as possible. “As politicians we need to be quicker off the mark, people are protesting because they are unhappy with the system – I understand that.” Home Office statistics published by the BBC show on June 30, 2025 there were 51 asylum seekers in hotels in the borough of Dudley , which is equivalent to 15 per 100,000 members of the population. There are a number of Parliamentary constituencies in Dudley borough including Stourbridge , Halesowen and Kingswinford and South Staffordshire . The same statistics show neighbouring local authority areas had higher rates of asylum seekers in hotels on the same date; in Wolverhampton the figure was 279 or 99 per 100,000 people and Sandwell had 297 or 84 per 100,000 people. The MP is worried about campaigners filming at houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) which they believe are homes for illegal immigrants, she is urging people to check their facts before taking action. Ms Kumar said: “I understand the strength of sentiment regarding illegal immigrants that are taking advantage of our British systems. “Every single person has a right to protest, you really need to make sure of the information that you have got. “Speak to police, speak to the authorities before any actions so you have got the right information. Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here “Would you want to be taking videos of people in very vulnerable positions when you don’t know their back story? “It is the same as the Superior Hotel, that had got families in and children playing outside and people were taking videos – that is wrong.”