Hundreds of people seeking asylum in the United Kingdom were unlawfully held by the UK government at a disused military camp in southern England which failed to meet minimum accommodation standards, the UK High Court ruled on Thursday following a claim brought by six of the refugees
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd June, 2021) Hundreds of people seeking asylum in the United Kingdom were unlawfully held by the UK government at a disused military camp in southern England which failed to meet minimum accommodation standards, the UK High Court ruled on Thursday following a claim brought by six of the refugees.
"Based on government evidence, the High Court has found that the Home Secretary acted both unlawfully and irrationally in accommodating our clients at Napier Barracks, placing them at risk of a fire and contracting COVID-19, both of which happened," judge Thomas Linden said.
The magistrate also ruled that the camp failed to provide an adequate standard of living for the health of the claimants since the barracks were run down, noisy and overcrowded, and compared the facility with a detention center or prison camp.
The Home Office began using Napier Barracks, an old army facility in Folkestone, as a refugee camp to accommodate some 400 people in September 2020, in a move that sparked criticism from human rights groups and led to protests by asylum seekers over the harsh living conditions and the risk of catching COVID-19.
In March, after visiting Napier Barracks and another refugee camp in Pembrokeshire, officials from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons declared that both sites were run-down and unsuitable for accommodating people.
Back in December, several asylum seekers told Sputnik that they were living in overcrowded conditions in Napier Barracks, with up to 28 men forced to share a dormitory, showers and toilets, and that immigration lawyers were not allowed into the premises.
Thursday's court ruling was welcomed by human rights advocates who called for the camp, which is reportedly still housing 265 asylum seekers, to be shut down permanently.
"It is outstanding that the claimants in this case have now received justice, but the camp needs to be closed to protect the hundreds of people forced to live there at the moment," Jennifer Blair from the Helen Bamber Foundation legal team said.
The Home Office said in a statement that it will carefully consider the ruling, but stressed that the barracks will remain open after they underwent "significant improvement works."
