Napier Barracks asylum seeker site must close, charities say

A court heard public health experts had repeatedly raised concerns about the use of the site during a pandemic

Use of a former military barracks to house asylum seekers "beggars belief" and must end, charities say.

Part of Napier Barracks was branded unfit for habitation after two Covid outbreaks, with both a High Court judge and inspectors criticising conditions.

The site was loaned to the Home Office a year ago for emergency use amid rising numbers of people crossing the Channel.

The Home Office said the ex-barracks in Folkestone, Kent, is suitable for use.

Despite continued outcry from charities and refugee organisations, the government announced last month that the barracks could be used for accommodation until as late as 2025.

• Housing migrants at barracks unlawful, court rules

• Use of asylum barracks extended for five years

• Asylum-seeker barracks 'squalid and unsafe'

Tuesday marks a year on from the first asylum seekers moving on to the site. It comes as high numbers of people continue to cross the Dover Strait from France.

In the latest crossings, 41 people on a single boat reached the UK on Sunday, and a further 123 arrived on three boats on Monday.

In June, a High Court judge criticised the use of detention-like facilities

Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK's Refugee and Migrant Rights director, said: "Over the past year, the squalid detention-like conditions at Napier Barracks have spread Covid-19, renewed or exacerbated psychological traumas and generally punished people for doing no more than exercise their right to seek asylum in the UK.

"The barracks are now a byword for the cruel injustice of the government's attempts to shirk responsibility for providing a fair, humane and properly-run asylum system."

This year, inspectors said a "decrepit" isolation block was unfit for habitation

Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, said: "It beggars belief that after a year and two Covid outbreaks, refugees are still being cramped into decrepit buildings behind high fences and barbed wire.

"The barracks must be closed, people rehomed in our communities, and the government tear up plans outlined in its anti-refugee Bill to copy Napier and house people in 'detention-lite' reception centres."

A Home Office spokesperson said the "unprecedented and unacceptable rise" in small boat crossings and the Covid-19 pandemic "continue to put pressure on our asylum system".

Campaigners have called for the site to be closed and its residents moved

They added: "As we work to reform the broken asylum system, we must ensure we have sufficient capacity to meet our statutory duty to provide support to genuine and destitute asylum seekers."

The Home Office repeated that Napier Barracks was previously used to house military personnel and "to suggest they are not good enough for asylum seekers is an insult".

"The New Plan for Immigration provides the only long-term solution to fix the broken system, which includes changes to the law to tackle criminal gangs and prevent further loss of life," they added.

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