MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) Volunteers visiting a facility housing asylum seekers near Folkestone in the UK's Kent have been required to sign non-disclosure agreements by the UK Home Office, in what rights groups believe was an attempt to conceal information about the conditions at the facility after a person tried to end his life there.
The Home Office has been accused of hiding a situation at Napier Barracks in Kent � used to house people who are trying to claim asylum in the country � in which a suicide attempt was reported last week. According to The Guardian newspaper, volunteers who work there are forced by the firm running the site to sign confidentiality documents, barring them from revealing any information about the barracks' residents, as it is covered by the UK Official Secrets Act, usually reserved for national security matters.
"Locking people up at an old army barracks is inappropriate enough, without trying to gag those who volunteer to provide basic essentials to those in need. We've heard reports of self harm, suicide attempts, Covid outbreaks and cramped and unsanitary dorms, meaning more - not less - public information is needed about this seemingly reckless experiment," Bella Sankey, the director of the Detention Action group, said, as quoted by The Guardian.
According to Sonia Lenegan, the legal director of the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association, the practice resembles a cover-up.
"What else could it be? It's sinister. What reason could there be for that non-disclosure agreement otherwise?" she said, as quoted by The Guardian.
A Home Office spokesperson has said that the agreement is meant to provide asylum seekers with privacy and confidentiality.
The United Kingdom has experienced a significant influx of illegal migrants claiming asylum crossing the English Channel. The UK government has repurposed Napier Barracks to house recent arrivals until their asylum claims are processed.
