Asylum base condemned by home secretary moves ‘torture victims’ into hotels

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Nearly 100 asylum seekers, together with suspected victims of torture and human trafficking, have been moved out of a controversial RAF base that has been condemned by each Priti Patel and home secretary James Cleverly, The Independent can reveal.

The migrants, who have been being housed at RAF Wethersfield, have been quietly despatched to hotels after the Home Office admitted it was an unsuitable place for them to remain.

The former airbase in Essex has been described as an “open prison camp”, with determined migrants making an attempt suicide, occurring starvation strike and attempting to set themselves on hearth, in line with testimony from asylum seekers inside. It can also be the topic of a authorized problem launched by refugee charity Care4Calais.

Mr Cleverly mentioned on the finish of final 12 months that he would attempt to shut down the positioning – positioned in his constituency – “as soon as practicable”.

Former home secretary Priti Patel has additionally described the positioning as not match for function, and as having “no infrastructure, no amenities” close by. She additionally accused the federal government of being “secretive” and “evasive” about how lengthy Wethersfield can be used for.

New knowledge, solely revealed in response to a freedom of data request, reveals that 90 asylum seekers have been moved out for the reason that camp got here into use in July 2023. Some 676 asylum seekers have been despatched there because it opened, in line with figures that cowl the interval till the top of November final 12 months.

According to the Home Office, those that have been moved out have been suspected victims of contemporary slavery, had claims of human trafficking, or had complicated well being wants that would not be managed on the positioning. Others had claimed to be victims of torture, or mentioned they have been kids.

The true quantity who’ve left the camp is prone to be larger, because the FOI knowledge solely runs to the top of November, and charities say that extra have been helped to depart since then.

Senior Tory Sir Edward Leigh – who has been campaigning towards the usage of an RAF base in his Gainsborough constituency – informed The Independent that the most recent figures present that it’s time for a rethink. “Housing illegal migrants at military bases is just not working,” mentioned the previous minister. “There are so many problems with old buildings in need of upgrades, and at vast expense. It’s not what our bases are for.”

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP mentioned it’s “unacceptable for anyone to be held in living conditions that pose a risk to their health”.

He added: “It is especially grotesque that vulnerable victims of modern slavery would be allowed to live there, even after the former foreign secretary himself expressed concerns.”

Tory councillor Graham Butland, the chief of Braintree District Council, mentioned Wethersfield is “an unsuitable site for large-scale asylum seeker accommodation”. He cited the dearth of capability in native companies, its remoted location, and the affect it might have on the local people.

Lawyers for refugee charity Care4Calais have launched authorized motion towards the federal government over its use of the positioning, which they are saying is a de facto detention centre and never appropriate for long-term lodging. Asylum seekers are confined to the camp, aside from allotted bus journeys, and the base solely has one entrance and exit that opens onto a rustic highway.

One of their shoppers, 19-year-old Yonas, was despatched to the airbase regardless of detailing a historical past of torture. An asylum seeker from Eritrea, he mentioned he was captured in Libya, held in an overcrowded warehouse with 250 different folks, and crushed.

He was then despatched to the previous RAF base straight after arriving within the UK in early July final 12 months, and was there for 3 months.

He was capable of problem his transfer to Wethersfield on the grounds that it was unsuitable. His declare was profitable, and he has now been moved to a lodge. He mentioned: “I was detained and tortured for seven months in Libya. I came to the UK for a safe future, and when I arrived the government sent me to a prison camp.

“It was so far away from anywhere. We were kept behind fences. We couldn’t leave. I don’t know why I, someone who has experienced torture, was ever sent there.”

A report final month by charity the Helen Bamber Foundation discovered that kids, survivors of torture and trafficking, and other people with extreme psychological sickness have been being held on the website, regardless of authorities steering making clear that these teams shouldn’t be housed there.

Doctors for the organisation whose members interviewed Wethersfield residents discovered that some have been experiencing worsening PTSD signs, and all introduced with scientific melancholy.

The human rights organisation, Humans for Rights Network, mentioned that 11 kids, who have been wrongly being handled as adults, had been positioned within the centre.

As of October final 12 months, the primary nations of origin of migrants being held at Wethersfield have been Afghanistan (29 per cent), Iran (20 per cent) and Eritrea (16 per cent). One of the lads interviewed for the Helen Bamber report mentioned that he had tried suicide due to the circumstances contained in the camp, including {that a} group of six or seven folks had tried to set themselves on hearth in protest.

Last 12 months Mr Cleverly mentioned the Wethersfield website “wasn’t appropriate for asylum accommodation”, including that the distant base had restricted entry to move infrastructure. He added: “I will continue to really push down the illegal migration so we can close down the asylum centre as soon as practicable.”

Plans to make use of the positioning have been introduced by the then immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, in March 2023, with Suella Braverman utilizing a uncommon “emergency” declaration to bypass the same old planning permission required for the army base for use.

Maddie Harris, of the Humans for Rights Network, described “a very consistent negative experience had by men who have moved into Wethersfield”. She additionally raised considerations about whether or not the Home Office knew who was at Wethersfield, as one asylum seeker had lately informed her that workers had no file of one of many residents being on the base.

Steve Smith, the CEO of Care4Calais, mentioned that the switch of some residents out of Wethersfield “shows the systemic disregard the Home Office has shown for their own accommodation policy.

“The policy is clear – no one who has survived torture, trafficking or modern slavery should be sent to the Wethersfield camp. That people who have experienced such horrors are being routinely sent [there] is shocking.”

He mentioned it’s clear that “the government has no effective screening process in place before sending asylum seekers to Wethersfield”.

A Home Office spokesperson mentioned: “We continue to meet our legal obligations and provide accommodation for asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.

“The accommodation provided meets all relevant housing and health and safety standards. If it emerges an asylum seeker is no longer suitable for the site, they will be moved to different accommodation.”