Revealed: Asylum seekers moved to squalid housing

Latest updates and essential advice from The Independent [View in browser]( [Alternate text] Daily briefing March 22, 2021 Today’s essential news from the source you trust This morning’s headlines Vulnerable people are [being placed in squalid housing]( without any money as part of an operation to move thousands of asylum seekers out of hotels, The Independent can reveal. Young children and pregnant women are being given just a few hours’ notice before being “shunted” across the country and left in dirty houses with damp problems and forced to wait weeks to start receiving their weekly government allowance, charities and asylum seekers say. The Home Office last month began “Operation Oak” to “accelerate” moving the 9,500 asylum seekers housed in hotels into longer-term accommodation. So far, about 2,500 are said to have been moved. But charities have described the process as “shambolic”, warning that firms contracted by the Home Office to manage asylum housing are moving people from “one horrendous situation into another” and that people were sometimes being moved multiple times within weeks without being tested for Covid, creating a public health risk. Rioters [attacked a police station and set fire to marked police cars]( after violence broke out in Bristol at a rally against a controversial policing bill. Thousands of people had gathered in the city on Sunday for a demonstration against the legislation, which would give officers more powers to crack down on protests. Police said the “Kill the Bill” march began peacefully but turned violent when a “small minority” attacked the police station in Bridewell Street. Two police officers were taken to hospital with broken bones and ribs and two marked police vans were set on fire, while vehicles parked in a multi-storey car park nearby were also damaged by rioters. Video footage showed a graffiti-tagged Avon and Somerset Police van being rocked from side to side by protesters. Other images showed fireworks being thrown and rioters attempting to smash the windows of the police station as mounted officers were deployed to disperse the large crowd. The European Union is [set to block exports of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to the UK](, according to reports. Senior officials told Bloomberg news agency that any requests for doses produced in Europe would be reviewed “very severely” until the British-based company fulfilled its contract with the bloc. Any vaccines and ingredients produced in European factories “will for now be reserved for local deliveries,” the source added. The comments were made ahead of a meeting of EU leaders to discuss a possible export ban on Thursday. It comes after defence minister Ben Wallace said any attempt to block Covid-19 vaccine exports to the UK would be “counterproductive”. . We need your support The Independent employs over 100 journalists around the world to bring you news you can trust. Please consider showing your support with a contribution. [Contribute]( . Top stories [AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and highly effective, new US trial shows]( [UK ‘considering adding France to travel ban red list’]( [Masks and social distancing ‘could last years’, top scientist says]( . Sign up to our free newsletters Subscribe to a wide range of free newsletters for exclusive news and features from our specialist reporters across the world . Stories chosen for you - [Biden ramps up family expulsions at border as US surges past vaccine goal - follow live]( - [Labour hits out at EU and warns Brussels to ‘cool the rhetoric’ in vaccine export ban row]( - [Keir Starmer ‘turning Labour into the party of the establishment’, Unite chief Len McCluskey warns]( - [Tory MPs pressure Boris Johnson not to extend coronavirus restrictions]( - [When does the 2021 census have to be completed by?]( . News you can trust The Independent has a 100% NewsGuard trust rating [NewsGuard] [Find out more]( . If you can spare two minutes we’d love to hear your [feedback]( on our newsletters [Alternate text] Join the conversation or follow us [Twitter]( [Facebook]( Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's News email. Add us to your safe list of senders. If you do not want to receive The Independent News email and Breaking News alerts, please [unsubscribe](list_name=IND_Headlines_Masterlist_CDP). If you no longer wish to receive any newsletters or promotional emails from The Independent, you can unsubscribe [here](. This e-mail was sent by Independent Digital News and Media Ltd, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5HF. Registered in England and Wales with company number 07320345. Read our [privacy notice]( and [cookie policy](.