In an update to Belfast City Council’s Shared City Partnership group in May 2024, NI Executive Office officials gave a verbal update on ‘asylum dispersal’ -- the practice whereby Mears Group, under its Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract with the Home Office, houses people seeking international safety while their asylum claims are being processed by the Home Office. 

The minutes of that verbal update referred to a practice of ‘heat mapping’:

“heat mapping is to check safety and suitability of accommodation. Home Office, PSNI and NIHE provide the input on heat mapping. Mears is provided with heat mapped council areas broken down into ward level. Green, amber and red wards. Green is ok to procure, Amber can procure but propose property address for decision. Red do not procure.” (p. 232)

PPR submitted Freedom of Information requests seeking to understand the process for procuring asylum accommodation, the criteria used and the role of ‘heat mapping’ in that. The process of requesting information and chasing responses overlapped with the August 2024 racist violence and its aftermath.

The PSNI (FOI response 2024-02811) claimed a health and safety exemption against sharing information on which wards were considered ‘green’, or safe for the purposes of procuring asylum accommodation. It did however provide more information on the colour categories:

“RED agency has reservations about procurement. Defer procurement until reservations have been addressed (review in 3 months)

AMBER agency has reservations about procurement. Procurement can proceed while reservations are being addressed. Placements to be closely monitored.

GREEN Agency has no reservations about procurement. Procurement can proceed.”

For its part, the Housing Executive said that it did not hold information on ‘safe’ wards, but suggested, “the Home Office may be able to assist with this query” (FOI 487).

However, when asked for the information, the Home Office (FOI 2024 06565) passed the buck further: 

“the information you have requested is not held by the Home Office. You may wish to direct your request to the Northern Ireland Executive.”

When duly approached, the Executive Office (FOI 2024 0119) gave the same explanation of colour categories as the PSNI and added:

“Please note, TEO is not responsible for the procurement of properties in Northern Ireland, this lies with Home Office and their contracted accommodation provider Mears Plc. TEO coordinated the heatmapping exercise, with statutory partners, to provide a tool that could be used by Home Office and Mears Plc to make an informed decision on procurement.”

It provided some meeting notes from August and September 2024 discussions of racist violence and its aftermath.

What is clear from the various responses is that inter-agency working is capable of identifying those areas in which families seeking international protection would not be considered safe.

The question then becomes: if authorities have a clear and agreed understanding, broken down by ward level, of where racist intimidation and violence are more likely, is simply avoiding placing people there enough?

Minimising risk is vital, yes – but it is only a first step. What else are the bodies involved – TEO, PSNI, NIHE, Home Office – doing to combat racist hate and actually reduce the ‘no go’ amber and red marks on the map, so all of the city becomes a ‘green zone’ for all of us?