Barracks clearly unsafe

Last September, the government moved 400 men seeking asylum into a disused barracks in Kent. Many were survivors of slavery, trafficking and torture, yet were confined in an ex-military setting, complete with barbed wire - a blatant act of inhumanity and humiliation.

Conditions at Napier Barracks were clearly unsafe. Despite the pandemic, residents were crammed 15 to a room and, at times, 34 people had to share one shower and one toilet.

Residents protested about the conditions.

Many went on hunger strike and started sleeping outside, despite the cold, to try and avoid contracting Covid-19. An open letter from the residents called

on the authorities to see people in camps as “human beings and desperate people”.

Initial reports that over 100 residents had tested positive were an under-estimate. The Home Office later reported that around 200 - half the total - had contracted the virus and began moving residents out.

Around 60 still remain.

Last month, borders and immigration and prison inspectors found that the site had been opened before implementation of public health recommendations; a large-scale Covid-19 outbreak was inevitable given the cramped communal conditions and the impossibility of social distancing; the environment was impoverished and unsuitable for long-term accommodation; it was virtually impossible to keep the run-down buildings clean and sanitised; and not knowing how much longer they would be in the camp had caused the residents major anguish.

The findings are most distressing and clearly contradict the Home Office’s claim that it took the men’s welfare “extremely seriously”.

Yet, unbelievably, they are planning to move more asylum seekers to the barracks next month.

There is a moral imperative here. Amnesty International, the human rights organisation, urges the Home Office to close Napier Barracks, provide safe and healthy alternative accommodation for those still housed there and abandon any plans to send more people to the site.

Helen Martins

Amnesty International Kent

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