The process of moving the asylum seekers from a town centre hotel should be finished by the end of November but there is still uncertainty about where they are going to be located.

In October, it was revealed that 50 hotels across the country will cease to be used to house asylum seekers and will go back to their original use, including Ipswich’s Novotel, which was taken over by the Home Office a year ago. 

Ipswich MP Tom Hunt said: “As it stands, I’ve been informed that the hotel will be cleared by the end of this month. 

Ipswich Star: MP Tom Hunt, House of CommonsMP Tom Hunt, House of Commons (Image: House of Commons)

“I don’t as of yet know when the hotel will be back in use. I suspect there will be a period of time where they have to get everything prepared.” 

The MP added he was informed by the government that people who were accommodated in Novotel would be dispersed across the country.

Mr Hunt said: “Some will be located in ex-military sites that are being brought back into use. Some will also be sent to barges like the Bibby Stockholm. 

Ipswich Star: the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge at Portland Port in Dorset.the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge at Portland Port in Dorset. (Image: James Manning)

“This week the Supreme Court will be deciding upon the Rwanda scheme. If it gets the green light, then many in the hotel will be eligible for this scheme and could be sent to Rwanda.” 

Martin Simmons, from Suffolk Refugee Support, said that there is still a lot of uncertainty around what happens next for many of the asylum seekers.

Ipswich Star: Demonstrators outside the Royal Courts of Justice, central London, protesting against the Government's plan to send some asylum seekers to RwandaDemonstrators outside the Royal Courts of Justice, central London, protesting against the Government's plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda (Image: PA)

Mr Simmons added: "We are seeing people at our office every day who are really worried about where they might be sent.

"Many have made community links here, are involved in volunteering or studying, or have ongoing health treatment needs.

"Some people have been informed at short notice that they are being moved to different parts of the country that they don't know at all.

"For people who have already been forcibly displaced, often more than once, being uprooted and moved again when they have begun to settle in a place of safety just adds to anxiety and trauma."

Suffolk Refugee Support assured that they are doing everything to support people through this process - working with health professionals to make sure urgent needs are taken into account, referring people to other support organisations and services if they know where they are being moved to, and providing as much reassurance as we can.

Mr Simmonds added: "But while we see people as individual human beings, the system they are in can be quite impersonal and uncaring, with a lack of clear information or consideration of personal circumstances."