Footage on TikTok shows people thought to be small boat migrants celebrating making it to Britain with a party in their suspected taxpayer-funded hotel room.
The clip shows around 10 people having a party in a hotel room with decorations consistent with those found in a Holiday Inn Express – several of which have been used to house asylum seekers.
In the middle of the room, a buffet comprised of popcorn, biscuits, sliced bananas, bottled water, glasses of Pepsi and cans of Irn-Bru was placed on what appears to be a bath towel.
The men could be seen sitting around it on all sides in their bare feet in the hotel room, which included a small widescreen television among its other adornments.
Some of the other men also filmed the party on their phones and could be seen laughing and smiling.
Overlaid on the clip was a caption with emojis of two upturned palms, the UK flag and the ‘party’ face, alongside the phrase ‘alhamdulillah’ (‘praise be to God’) in Arabic.
The Daily Mail has not been able to verify where and when the video was filmed.
Home Office sources were keen to stress that the footage showed no ‘malicious activity’, and that there was no evidence the footage showed asylum seekers or asylum accommodation.
Suspected migrants have shared a video of themselves eating food at a social gathering in what is suspected to be temporary accommodation in Britain
The TikTok clip features around 10 men in a room with a veritable feast of biscuits, popcorn, sliced bananas, bottled water and cans of Irn Bru
The men – some of whom wore Airpod-style earphones – smiled and laughed in the clip, which was captioned with the phrase ‘praise be to God’ in Arabic
The man who posted the video, named Abubaker, appears to be a Sudanese migrant who travelled to Britain through Europe last year
The video was posted on the TikTok account of a Sudanese man thought to be called Abubaker.
Content on his profile suggests he travelled to the UK from Africa after living in Egypt for five years.
Images on his account show him working at JJ’s, an Egyptian fast food chain that sells burgers and chicken nuggets, in 2024.
He then shared a message in Arabic that suggested he was leaving Egypt, before posting a picture of himself with the word ‘Travel’ overlaid on the image.
The Mail has not been able to verify whether the man is an asylum seeker – but his TikTok account is laced with suggestions that he reached Britain by unconventional means.
A video posted on April 25 shows him in front of posters bearing Arabic text – before a subsequent post on May 17 shows him and other men on a large orange boat, captioned with an emoji of the Italian flag.
The post was set to the song ‘GBP’ by rappers 21 Savage and Central Cee, which references the UK and London in its lyrics.
The Mail has established that the boat is the Solidaire, an NGO boat flying under the German flag that carries out rescue missions of migrants in the Mediterranean.
Abubaker is said to have lived in Egypt for five years before making the journey to the UK (pictured working at JJ’s, an Egyptian fast food chain)
Abubaker (front row, left) is pictured on a rescue ship that the Mail has ascertained likely pulled him and another 262 migrants from the Mediterranean
He and other migrants are seen in life-jackets bearing the Solidaire’s name in another TikTok
Contemporary news reports state that it docked in Genoa, Italy on May 16 after rescuing 263 migrants who had departed from Zuwara, Libya and got into trouble int the Mediterranean Sea.
On May 18, Abubaker posted a video of himself on Loano Beach, around 50 miles from Genoa. One comment read: ‘Inside, completely’, to which he responded with three emojis of a flexing arm.
He then shared videos of himself and other migrants in bright orange life-jackets labelled with the name of the ship Solidaire, walking up a steep mountain path.
By June 6, he had made it to Paris, sharing a video that was tagged as being filmed in Quartier de La Chapelle, a noted migrant hotspot.
He then appears to be have been in France for around five months – congratulating others on making it to Britain as he made his own plans.
One post, showing a man he said he met in Dijon, read: ‘I wish you a pleasant stay, my brother Othman. Britain welcomes you.’
Another, covered in UK flag emojis, read: ‘Health to you, my friend! We’re so happy for you, my dear, you truly deserve it!’
On November 11, he shared a post with the caption: ‘Last but not least, the destination was successfully reached.’
It is not known how he reached the UK in the end. The Daily Mail sought to contact Abubaker for comment.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We are furious at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels.
‘This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well underway to move asylum seekers into more suitable accommodation such as military bases, to ease pressure on communities across the country.
‘We are working closely with local authorities, property partners and across-government so that we can accelerate delivery.’
