More asylum seekers in Rochdale than the entire South East of England

It has emerged that there are more asylum seekers being placed in Rochdale than in the whole of the South East region.

Home Office figures have shown there are currently 615 asylum seekers in Rochdale compared with 447 in the entire South East of England, which includes just one in Windsor and Maidenhead where the Home Secretary, Theresa May, is the MP.

In David Cameron’s backyard of West Oxfordshire there are no asylum seekers at all.

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk has challenged the Government to address the disproportionate number of asylum seekers being placed in Rochdale.

Mr Danczuk said: “I think we can be proud as a country that we offer asylum to people who need it, but we need to make sure the burden is spread fairly across the country. And we need to make sure that the system is fair - I meet too many people in my surgery that are economic migrants trying to claim asylum. The system at the moment is a shambles and ministers need to explain why David Cameron’s constituency takes no asylum seekers and a wildly disproportionate number are placed in Rochdale. This is bad policy and runs the risk of not only putting extra strain on community relations but also putting significant pressure on services that are already struggling due to Government cuts.”