ASYLUM seekers put up in two town centre hotels are ‘not holidaymakers here for the perks of living in Bournemouth’, a leading charity has said.

The Refugee Council has hit out at those criticising the asylum seekers, on the day that council bosses are due to meet with immigration officials to discuss the issue.

More than 180 refugees were sent to stay in two Bournemouth hotels – the Heathlands and Roundhouse – at the end of last week, due to overcrowding in London.

There are 94 people staying in the Heathlands Hotel and 89 in the Roundhouse.

The Home Office has insisted the measure is a short-term one, with the asylum seekers understood to be staying for no more than two weeks.

Refugee Council chief executive Maurice Wren said: “Asylum seekers are people who have often fled horrifying experiences in their home countries; they aren’t holidaymakers. Some have been raped. Some have been tortured. Many have witnessed the death of a loved one.

“Asylum seekers are not allowed to work, so it is the Government’s responsibility to provide them with somewhere safe to sleep at night.

“Clearly, people who have suffered extreme trauma and whose lives are hanging in the balance will not be focusing on the perks of temporarily being sent to live in Bournemouth.

“Given that the UK is home to less than 1 per cent of the world’s refugees, you would expect most reasonable people to be able to treat those few people who do seek safety here with the dignity and humanity they deserve.”

The Refugee Council is one of the leading UK charities offering support and advice to people seeking asylum.

One of the asylum seekers staying at the Heathlands Hotel told the Daily Echo he had left his homeland of Democratic Repub-lic of Congo after both his parents were murdered.

The 18-year-old said that his mother was killed in June and his father when he was only a toddler. The leader of Bournemouth council, Cllr John Beesley, chief executive Tony Williams and members of Dorset Police will meet with representatives of the UK Visas and Immigration department today.