A British Navy veteran has declared his area a "dumping ground" for migrants, following the latest immigration data released by the Home Office.
Speaking to GB News from the Last Post Memorial Bar in Thornaby, Stephen Parker said migrants are "put up in hotels and HMOs, and we're just expected to live with it".
The latest figures have revealed a total of 32,059 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of Labour’s first year in Government, up eight per cent from the same point 12 months ago.
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Navy Veteran Stephen Parker says Middlesborough has always been a 'dumping ground' for migrants
|GB NEWS
The cost of housing asylum seekers in Britain was also revealed, hitting £4.76billion from 2024 to 2025.
Discussing the number of migrants being housed in his area, Mr Parker told GB News: "I feel that Middlesbrough has pretty much always been a dumping ground.
"We get people brought here, put up in hotels and things like that, and we're just expected to live with it."
Highlighting the strain on services within the community, Mr Parker recalled: "I recently needed to see my GP for an appointment, and it took over a month for the appointment to come through and then the paperwork from it a further month.
"We've got an NHS that's on its knees and we're ploughing tens of thousands more people into it with no plan to deal with it."
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New figures have revealed the exact number of asylum seekers housed in hotels, with the cost hitting £4.76billion from 2024 to 2025
|PA
Asked by GB News reporter Anna Riley about the feeling amongst the community about the rising number of migrants being housed in Middlesbrough, Mr Parker declared the locals feel "ignored".
The veteran told the People's Channel: "It feels very much like the locals are ignored, and we're betrayed.
"You vote for whatever party that makes promises to reduce the boats coming in and backing local business, things like that, and you just don't see it happen, it's promises that are false, really."
Questioning how Mr Parker feels as a veteran in the community, he admitted that veterans are being left to "fend for themselves" across the country.
Mr Parker told GB News that veterans in Britain are 'left to fend for themselves'
|GB NEWS
Mr Parker stated: "You've got tens of thousands of immigrants coming across the Channel who are prioritised for housing benefits and things like that, and you've got in the region of 4,000 homeless veterans who are left to fend for themselves. It's a betrayal.
"They've served the country, they've signed on the dotted line. And when they need help themselves, there's nothing forthcoming."
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement: "We inherited a broken immigration and asylum system that the previous Government left in chaos.
"Since coming to office, we have strengthened Britain’s visa and immigration controls, cut asylum costs and sharply increased enforcement and returns, as today’s figures show."