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Muslim survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire were badly failed by the local council and denied their right to halal food while being temporarily rehoused at hotels, a damning inquiry has revealed.
The inquiry’s final report found the fire that killed 72 people in 2017 was the result of “decades of failure” by central government and the construction industry to act on the dangers of flammable cladding.
It concluded that Kensington and Chelsea Council should have done more to cater to people from diverse backgrounds. Many of those who lived in the tower had been observing Ramadan, but halal food was not available at all hotels, nor was it possible to observe the requirement to eat at set times.
The findings prompted criticism from Britain’s leading representative body for Muslim communities which said it pointed to “wider structural and systemic issues” affecting minoritised communities.
Speaking to The Independent, Zara Mohammed, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “The treatment of minority and faith communities by the council highlights wider structural and systemic issues that must be tackled.
“Grenfell remains a stark reminder and trauma for so many, not just the fire but for the way the most vulnerable in our society are treated. Much must be learned now, and for those who have been waiting for justice, meaningful change is essential.”
Issues of race and class have been widely linked to Grenfell. Some 85 per cent of the residents who died in the fire were from ethnic minority and low-income communities, while 40 per cent of residents in high-rise, social housing properties are from these communities.
Dr Shabna Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust, linked race, Grenfell and wider housing inequalities – and warned that it was “a matter of time until a tragedy of the same scale will happen again”.
She went on: “The Grenfell fire was a preventable tragedy, marred at every point by structural and direct racism – from those who were killed, to the treatment of survivors, the bereaved, and the wider community, as the latest report from the inquiry confirms.
“Seven years since, there is still no justice for the victims and thousands of unsafe buildings still stand across the country. Unless urgent and sufficient action is taken, it is a matter of time until a tragedy of the same scale will happen again.
“People of colour are feeling the harshest impacts of the housing crisis, disproportionately live in unsafe and unsuitable homes, and are often funnelled into the poorest quality and least desirable social housing. As a bare minimum, everyone should have access to safe, suitable, affordable housing.”
The Grenfell inquiry report highlighted the lack of support for people from migrant backgrounds whose first language wasn’t English.
“Those who obtained information about the support available were the first to receive assistance, while those who did not were left behind,” it said.
“That particularly affected vulnerable people, such as those with mobility problems and those who could not speak English. When official communications were eventually released, they were in English. That included communications sent to those who had been placed in hotels.”
People described feeling at a disadvantage because they could not read English well and had significant difficulty in gaining access to services, which they felt created unfairness, according to the report.
Moreover, interpreters were often not provided, and in some cases, were provided but in the wrong language, the report found.
A Black Lives Matter spokesperson told The Independent: “The report confirms what we already know—that we live in a society where a hierarchy of human worth is premised upon the colour of your skin, and where ease in accessing basic social goods such as decent housing is determined by your class and race.”
There were also barriers to mental health support for survivors, according to the report.
Psychological support was available from 16 June but many were not told about it, and were unable to obtain counselling services due to language barriers.
Meka Beresford, head of policy at Action for Race Equality, told The Independent that she hoped the learnings and recommendations from this report were taken seriously, “as a matter of utmost urgency”.
“Those impacted by the Grenfell tragedy have been systematically failed at every stage,” she said.
““The final report published today is clear – if you are Black or Brown, a Muslim, or spoke English as an additional language, you were faced with barriers to even the most basic forms of support following the fire.
“Decades of failure predated the tragedy, and we must not wait any longer to put an end to the pervasive institutional racism and Islamophobia in Britain today.”
When approached for comment, Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, told The Independent: “On behalf of the council, I apologise unreservedly and with my whole heart to the bereaved, survivors and residents of Grenfell for our failure to listen and to protect them.”
Councillor Campbell said the council “fully accepts” the inquiry’s findings which are “a withering critique of a system broken from top to bottom”.
“We failed to keep people safe before and during the refurbishment and we failed to treat people with humanity and care in the aftermath,” she added.
“We will learn from every single criticism in the report. We will take time to study it further in detail, listen to the reflections from our communities, and publish a full and formal response in the autumn.”
