The UK city on the brink of refusing to accept any more asylum seekers

The UK city on the brink of refusing to accept any more asylum seekers The leader of the local council says charity begins at home. Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Add us as preferred source By Jon King , News Reporter 07:00, Sat, Nov 7, 2026 Sunderland's council leader wants the Home Office to pause asylum seeker dispersal to the city (Image: Getty) Shabana Mahmood has been warned by a council leader that his city cannot accept any more asylum seekers.

Reform UK councillor, Chris Eynon, urged the Home Secretary to end dispersals to Sunderland amid concerns the city is taking more than its fair share and the numbers will ultimately add more people to an already lengthy housing waiting list. Mr Eynon, who was confirmed as council leader in May, told the Daily Express : "Sunderland is not a city hostile to asylum seekers, but we need to get our own housing list under control and put locals first.

Charity begins at home." Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT According to the council leader, Sunderland's asylum seeker population increased by 550% between 2015 and 2025. He pointed to figures from Shelter which he said showed the local authority's housing waiting list rising over the same period by 523%. Figures cited by Mr Eynon show that a total of 1,991 houses became available for new occupants in 2025-26, attracting a staggering 340,000 bids from locals in search of a secure place to live.

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You can unsubscribe at any time. More Info . In a letter to the Home Secretary, seen by this publication, Mr Eynon pointed out that while Sunderland makes up 0.4% of the UK population, it accommodates 0.9% of those receiving asylum support. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT Mr Eynon accused the Government of moving asylum seekers to Sunderland to shift the "problem" onto the council, adding to pressure on local housing and services.

Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT At the time of writing, the council has yet to receive a response from the Home Office after the letter was sent on October 13. The leader of the city, which has a population of just over 278,000, said he is not seeking a reduced allocation of asylum seekers, but wants an end to asylum dispersal in Sunderland, "full stop". By law, the Home Office is responsible for the asylum dispersal system, deciding where and how asylum seekers are accommodated.

Local authorities can ask the Government to pause dispersals, but they have no power to unilaterally enforce one. Sunderland is meanwhile mulling other measures it could take to curb the number of newcomers, including by extending the period an individual needs to have lived in the city to be added to its housing list from six months to five years. Chris Eynon says Sunderland needs to put locals first and sort out its housing waiting list (Image: Sunderland City Council) Nationwide increases interest rates across 9 savings accounts and ISAs What Russell Brand jury wasn't told before rape conviction Mr Eynon said: "This has nothing to do with racism.

Such a move would discriminate against someone coming from, say, Newcastle." Sunderland's welcome for refugees from the war in Ukraine demonstrated the city's support for asylum seekers, according to the council leader. But he accused the Government of leaving his city to pick up the pieces of Labour's "national immigration policy failures". The 31-year-old said: "We don't mind sensible immigration, but since Boris Johnson it's been through the roof."

Asked if Sunderland could follow places such as Piddington and stage a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK, Mr Eynon said: "Reform has 57 councillors on the council. We received 101,000 votes in May's local elections. We have a majority of 19. We already have a huge mandate... A lot of locals think we are doing a splendid job." After Reform ousted Labour and won control of the council, its first motion called for its involvement in the nationwide City of Sanctuary scheme to be suspended.

The scheme sees participants share best practice over how to ensure the country is made more welcoming to groups, such as refugees and asylum seekers. Reform's move led the chair of the local City of Sanctuary group to dismiss the motion as "performative gesture politics". Mr Eynon said Sunderland is already exercising powers at its disposal to crack down on Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) and he is not holding his breath for a response from the Home Office to his request for a pause.

But he pointed to a precedent set by the former Labour MP for Sunderland Central, Julie Elliott, who in 2018 demanded a halt to asylum seekers being housed in the city. In a letter to the then home secretary, Sajid Javid, Ms Elliott called for a temporary pause, which was granted. It was prompted by tensions in the city over the rape of a woman by Saheed Rasoolli and Araz Abdulla, who were sentenced to 12 years and 10 years respectively.

Mr Eynon said: "If the Home Office comes back to us and tells us we're being outrageous, we'll just point to the old MP's letter." He went on to accuse the Government of going over councils' heads when it comes to dispersals, but said some local authorities are fighting back, including Reform-led Lancashire County Council, which is withdrawing from its role as the coordinating authority for refugee resettlement schemes across the county.

Groups including the British Red Cross and Refugee Action, meanwhile, have long called for reforms to make sure asylum seekers' needs are met at every stage of the asylum process, including where they are housed. Imran Hussain, Director of External Affairs at the Refugee Council, said: "For generations, Britain has helped men, women and children escaping war and persecution to rebuild their lives, integrate into new communities and contribute to our prosperity.

"When refugees are waiting for a decision on their case they are not allowed to work, so providing them with food and shelter should be a national responsibility led by the Home Office, working closely with local councils. Figures from Oxford University's Migration Observatory show the number of local authorities hosting asylum seekers has risen in the last 12 years. In March 2014, 75% of councils (285 out of 375) were not hosting asylum seekers.

At the end of March this year, only 11% were not playing host (41 out of 361 local authorities). The North East and North West have the widest coverage, with all local authorities housing asylum seekers, while Northern Ireland has the lowest, according to the Migration Observatory. Data from Asylumstats shows Sunderland has more asylum seekers per head than 89% of the country, with a rate of 28.67 per 10,000. It puts the number of people receiving asylum support in the city at 823.

Mr Eynon said that unless the Labour Government acts, he and his Reform colleagues would put immigration at the heart of its campaiging at the next election. He said: "We can just say to people that under our curious system we have a Reform council, but unfortunately national government are out of kilter with our priorities." To Ms Mahmood, he said simply: "Listen to the people of Sunderland and work with us here." See more of the stories you love from Daily Express and find us easily in Google by making us a Preferred Source.

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