Napier Barracks to continue holding asylum seekers

A former military base which houses asylum seekers in Kent, which had been due to close in September, may now stay open until December.

The Home Office confirmed it is considering extending its use until the end of the year, despite previous concerns about poor living conditions.

The site in Folkestone has continued to accommodate asylum seekers since 2020, despite being described by a judge as "squalid" four years ago.

The Guardian reported earlier this month that the site would remain open beyond September.

Successive governments have grappled with how and where to house asylum seekers while their applications are being considered.

Napier Barracks is one location the government uses for "contingency accommodation", which can be used when space in regular asylum seeker housing is in short supply.

Napier Barracks has a maximum capacity of 328, while at the other former military site used to house migrants - Wethersfield airfield in Essex - it is 1,245.

The government has increasingly relied on hotels to provide temporary accommodation. There are currently 32,000 asylum seekers being housed in hotels.

But a High Court judgement earlier this week barred the use of a hotel in Epping to house asylum seekers - potentially paving the way for similar legal action over other hotels.

The Home Office says it is working on identifying cheaper and more appropriate sites for asylum accommodation.

A High Court judgement in 2021 found the accommodation at Napier Barracks was inadequate, following a fire and Covid outbreak at the site.

Mr Justice Linden said the barracks were overcrowded with "filthy" facilities and contained "detention-like" settings for men.

Despite the Home Office saying that improvements had been made by the following year it still faced calls from MPs for it to be closed.

In March this year the government said the barracks would cease housing asylum seekers in September.

A spokesperson said the ministry was continuing "to fulfil our statutory obligations and deliver our commitments to reduce the cost of asylum accommodation, and end the use of asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament".

The announcement comes after the home secretary announced an overhaul of the asylum system aimed at cutting the number of people being housed in temporary accommodation while awaiting an asylum ruling.

Yvette Cooper said a new body of independent adjudicators would fast-track decisions on appeals, which currently take just over a year on average to be heard.

During this time, asylum seekers whose applications have been unsuccessful are accommodated at the taxpayers' expense.

The government's pledge to end its reliance on hotels to house migrants follows protests across the UK over their use.