Mums 'scared to let kids out' as 1,500 schools now in walking distance of migrant hotels

More than 1,500 schools across the UK are within walking distance of a migrant hotel, according to a new report by The Women's Safety Initiative (WSI), leaving parents "scared to let their children out". The study, Schools on the Frontline: Migrant Hotels and Their Proximity to Schools, found that 1,539 schools sit within a 20-minute walk of asylum accommodations, and 393 are within just 10 minutes. Seventeen-year-old student Ellie Hodges, from Broxbourne, Hertfordshire - where there is a migrant hotel - told the Express that she is constantly on "high alert."

"We don't know who they are and what their past looks like but also, the authorities don't, and the people that are meant to keep us safe don't," she said. "My borough is next door to Epping Forest and after the recent sexual assault case, I think it's sparked the attention of some of those that weren't really aware of the safety threat before."

The sixth-form student is urging the government not to place migrants near schools, saying "the whole hotel thing is just ridiculous." She added that her school has yet to mention the nearby hotel or any related safety concerns, though she believes pupils should be informed: "I find myself educating my friends, just because they don't know about it."

In nearby Epping, mother-of-three Orla Minihane, 49, said she is "scared to let her children go out."

After an Ethiopian migrant living in the Bell Hotel was charged with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old, she no longer allows her 17-year-old daughter to travel alone by bus to school.

"There's an increase in men... who will go over and they'll sit next to her, they'll talk to her," Ms Minihane said.

"I'm scared to let my children go out. I won't let my 11-year-old boy walk home from school. He's just started secondary school and he's begging me to walk home, saying 'I'm a big boy,' and I say 'yeah, but you're not as big as the men that could get you.'"

She continued: "If you're on the sex offenders register in the UK it has to be publicised so you can't live near a school, schools are warned, there's measures that are put in place to protect the children.

"We're not saying for one minute that every illegal migrant that comes in is a potential sex offender, but 50% could be, 5% could be - the point is we don't know. You're putting harm in the way of the most vulnerable citizens."

Ms Minihane said migrants should instead be housed in a "secure area or unit, somewhere where they're not going to pose a threat" until asylum claims are processed and background checks are complete.

The WSI is calling on the government to impose residency restrictions on illegal migrants to prevent them being housed near schools or childcare facilities. The group is also urging tighter policing and security around migrant accommodation, with every facility to be publicly reported.

Jess Gill, Founder and Director of the WSI, argued that "political convenience" is being prioritised over the safety of British schools. She said "countless parents" have raised concerns about their children's safety.

"They tell us about men loitering outside schools, filming children, and creating an atmosphere of fear. This fear is not unjustified: the crime figures linked to migrant hotels are shocking, with hundreds of serious offences committed by migrants housed in taxpayer-funded hotels, including rape and sexual assault," Ms Gill said.

Official data shows that 312 asylum seekers have been charged with 708 alleged criminal offences in just three years. These include 18 charges of rape, five of attempted rape, 35 of sexual assault, and 51 of theft.

There were also 89 charges of assault - 27 of which allegedly targeted police officers or other emergency workers - along with 43 drug offences, 18 burglaries, and 16 robberies.

Ms Gill added that many of the men in migrant hotels come from countries with "some of the world's highest rates of femicide where practices like forced marriage and female genital mutilation are widespread and cruelty towards women is normalised."

"Why should we assume they leave these attitudes behind when they arrive in Britain?" she said.

So far in 2025, more than 31,000 migrants have crossed the Channel - the highest number at this point since arrivals began in 2018. The number of migrants living in hotels has also risen 8% over the past year, now reaching 32,059.

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.