The influencer posed as an asylum seeker to get into a migrant hotel “to find out what really happens.”
An influencer and YouTuber who infiltrated a migrant hotel to “find out what really happens” has sparked fury after he blasted “council estate scruffs” for attacking migrants. Husnain Asif spoke on LBC earlier this year, where he explained why he decided to pose as an asylum seeker to get into a migrant hotel.
Now his comments have resurfaced online and have provoked fury at a particularly tense time, amid ongoing protests and heated debate in the UK over immigration and asylum accommodation. Its renewed circulation has prompted a fresh wave of reaction on social media, with some users focusing particularly on Mr Asif’s comments describing critics as “council estate scruffs”. He said: “What we were getting forced down our throats by the Tommy Robinsons and all this s*** on Twitter that we’d see was just out there more than anything else so I wanted to actually see what went on once I was in there and then I didn’t feel anyone had actually spoken to the migrants themselves and found out what they’re actually doing here, what are their backstories, why are they here, what do they actually want to do.”
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Husnain Asif spoke about his experience (Image: LBC)
When speaking with the LBC presenter in January 2026, he said he was shocked by how the migrants were depressed.
He continued: “What they want to do is work. Naturally, people want a purpose; people want to do something. All these little council estate scruffs on Facebook think they’re sat there living this luxury life when they’re not. Half of them are seeing doctors for depression and stuff. They’ve risked their life going through traumatic situations at sea and then they’re just sat in a hotel room and they’re not allowed to do anything else, just sit in their room every single day. It’s literally the same day on repeat for them.”
One X (formerly Twitter) user called his comments “judgmental” adding: “We know what the men in these hotels are like because we see the reports of their crimes everyday in the press.”
Another X user said: “From when he said ‘council estate scruffs’ I didn’t care about anything else he said.” Someone else wrote: “Council Estate scruffs.’ Everyone had some prejudice I suppose.” One person commented: “So if the men are nice people why do they separate the women and children from men ? However they integrate them into our society ?”
The documentary, published on YouTube in December 2025, has amassed 194,249 views. Mr Asif has 1.6m followers on TikTok where he uses the handle “Massive Asif” to share vlogs, travel content, and comedic lifestyle videos with followers. He was also a contestant on Netflix’s reality competition series Squid Game: The Challenge.
When asked what he would say to someone who would be nervous about having an asylum near to where they live, Mr Asif said: “For what reason is there to be nervous? What that they’re brown?” To which the presenter said: “No, that people don’t know who they are.”
Mr Asif then answered: “But you don’t know who anyone is. There’s people born in this country that live down the road from you that could be a serial killer.
“Just because they came from a different country, you think that moment when you cross the city that it just turns you into some raging serial killer rapist? That’s not what happens, there’s not some powers in the English Channel that just changes the way people are. When I posted the video everyone was like oh yeah where are the women and children?
“There are separate hotels for women and children. Obviously it’s safer to keep grown men in a separate hotel and then women and children in a separate hotel.”
He added: “You can’t just assume that anyone’s just going to do the worse.
“I just wanted to show both sides of things. I didn’t hear one person who had a bad intention of being here or wanted to abuse any sort of system.”
As of June 2026, the Government was using just under 170 hotels to accommodate asylum seekers, down from a peak of around 400 in 2023. The UK government plans to end the use of hotels for housing asylum seekers by 2029. In 2024–25, the UK Parliament Committees report notes that the Home Office and Ministry of Justice spent an estimated £4.9 billion on the asylum system, with the Home Office accounting for roughly £2.7 billion of that total specifically for asylum accommodation.
Older state pensioners can cut BBC TV Licence bill to £0 in 16 minutes
A TV Licence currently costs £180 per year.
A TV Licence currently costs £180 per year (Image: Getty)
Older state pensioners across the UK can cut their TV Licence bill down to £0 in just 16 minutes if they meet certain criteria.
The annual fee for a TV Licence currently costs £180 and is due to rise again in April. The UK Government agreed that the TV Licence fee would increase in line with inflation for the remaining four years of the Charter period, which runs until the end of 2027, so another hike to bills is looming in early 2027. You need a TV Licence to watch or record programmes on a TV, computer, or other device on any channel or service as they are broadcast – including on-demand BBC programmes on BBC iPlayer, as well as live events on streaming services.
While most households must pay the annual £180 fee, it’s possible to get a TV Licence at a discounted rate in some cases and for some older pensioners, this fee can be avoided entirely, effectively cutting bills down to £0 simply thanks to one Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit: Pension Credit.
Pension Credit provides extra money to people who have reached State Pension age and are on a low income, and it is worth £4,300 per year on average, according to the DWP.
The benefit tops up your weekly income to £238 if you’re single, or your joint weekly income to £363.25 if you have a partner, but it also unlocks access to other financial support, too – including a free TV Licence if you’re aged 75 or over.
According to the DWP, it only takes 16 minutes on average to apply for Pension Credit and by doing so, you can unlock thousands of pounds worth of extra financial support.
The DWP said last year: “The online claim form – updated by the Work and Pensions Secretary after listening to the views of pensioners– means it now takes just 16 minutes on average to apply for Pension Credit and be eligible for up to £4,300, with 90 percent of new customers applying using the simple online form, or over the phone.”
If you already get Pension Credit, then you can apply for a free TV Licence when you’re 74, but you’ll need to continue paying for your licence until the end of the month before your 75th birthday. After this, you’ll be covered by your free licence.
Commenting on the perks of claiming the DWP benefit, Sarah Pennells, consumer finance specialist at Royal London, said: “Pension Credit is a valuable benefit because it is a ‘gateway’ benefit. That means, if you’re able to claim it, you may also be able to get help with housing costs (through Council Tax discount and Housing Benefit or Support for Mortgage Interest).
“You’re also eligible for a free TV licence if you’re aged 75 or over and you may be able to get help with NHS dental treatment, prescriptions and transport costs. If you’re entitled to these benefits, the state help you get could be very valuable and that could make a real difference to your finances.
For those who don’t meet the eligibility criteria for Pension Credit, there are other ways to reduce your TV Licence bill, or avoid the fee entirely.
If you no longer watch live on any channel, TV service or streaming service, or use BBC iPlayer, it may be worth cancelling your TV Licence and in some cases, you could be eligible for a refund if, before your licence expires, you won’t be doing any of the following:
- watching TV on any channel, like BBC, ITV, Channel 4, U&Dave and international channels
- watching TV on pay TV services, like Sky, Virgin Media and EE TV
- watching live TV on streaming services, like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video.
- using BBC iPlayer
This includes recording and downloading programmes on any device. But if you still need your TV Licence there are other ways to reduce the cost.
If you live in a residential care home, supported housing or sheltered accommodation, then you may be entitled to a reduced fee TV Licence, and if you’re blind (severely sight impaired) and can provide the appropriate evidence, you can apply for a 50% discount on your TV Licence. But if neither of these apply then you’ll have to pay for a TV Licence at the full rate.
TV licence: A look at reforms made to fee in 2022
If you don’t meet the eligibility criteria for Pension Credit or qualify for a reduced fee TV Licence, then there are still a few options to save money.
TV licences are per household, not per person, so if you live in a house with several people, you don’t all need to have one and could all chip in to share the cost of one licence. Instead, you can share a TV Licence among the whole household if you watch TV in a single shared area, or have a joint tenancy agreement. But if you have separate tenancy agreements and watch TV in your own room, then you will need to pay for your own.
You also don’t need a TV Licence to watch streaming services, such as Netflix and Disney Plus, on-demand TV through services like All 4 and Amazon Prime Video, videos on websites such as YouTube, or DVDs and Blu-rays.
So if you’re happy to just stick to watching any of these, and not watch or record any live TV or BBC iPlayer, you can save yourself £180 per year. But if you do watch or record live TV without a TV Licence, then you can be issued a fine of up to £1,000.