LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) A UK company running a refugee camp in southeast England where asylum-seekers have been protesting against poor living conditions has two 10-year government contracts worth up to 1 billion Pounds ($1,3 billion), The Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday.
According to the paper, Clearsprings Ready Home, owned by Essex businessmen Graham King, was granted the contracts to operate asylum accommodations in Wales and England until 2029.
The company is currently running Napier barracks, a disused military facility in Kent that has been housing around 400 refugees and where a fire broke out on Friday amid a protest against the harsh living conditions and the danger of contracting COVID-19 in the crammed facility. A Guardian investigation claimed back in 2019 that the company was profiteering in the House of Lords in 2000.
Back in December, several asylum seekers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity over fears of reprisals, told Sputnik that they were living in overcrowded conditions, with up to 28 men forced to share a dormitory, showers and toilets, and that immigration lawyers were not allowed into the premises.
Reacting to Friday's protest, UK Home Minister Priti Patel said in a statement that it was an insult to say that the site was not good enough to accommodate asylum seekers, noting that it had previously been used by the "our brave soldiers and army personnel."
Patel said that the damage and destruction at a refugee camp was appalling and offensive, adding that her ministry will support the police to take robust action against those who vandalise property, threaten staff and put lives at risk.
Fourteen men have been arrested in connection with the fire and one of them has been charged with assaulting a security guard.
