Home Office proposes barracks and barges as accommodation

Over three years since hotels were initially announced as accommodation for people seeking asylum, touted then as a temporary measure, the Home Office is finally working on ending the use of hotels. Nonetheless, rather than taking this opportunity to combat the conditions that have seen a rise in cases of diphtheria and deaths, the Home Office is planning to relocate people into disused ferries, army barracks and barges. This news comes as the Illegal Migration Bill is being discussed in Parliament, which would likely see many more people seeking safety confined to Home Office accommodation.

This is not the first time that these options have been chosen. During the last three years, we have seen several uses of army barracks as accommodation for people seeking asylum. Just over a year ago, for example, the Home Office opened Manston Processing Centre. They did so after the fires in Napier Barracks, and after inspectors described Penally camp as ‘filthy and run-down’. In October 2022, despite being described as a short-term holding facility, intended for around 1,600 people at any one time, Manston Processing Centre held 4,000 people. Residents were kept in close proximity, allowing the spread of highly infectious diseases including diphtheria. Recent reports have detailed the abuse many of the residents faced there who were ‘handcuffed, restrained and struck’.

Why is the Home Office repeatedly choosing options that are more expensive, less suitable, and so clearly opposed by charities and people seeking safety? Asylum policy after asylum policy are demonstrating blatant disregard for the lives, well-being and rights of people who have fled terror and war to reach a land on which they hope to feel safe. 

Placing people seeking safety from war, torture and persecution in highly overcrowded, under-resourced, isolated accommodation centres is a choice. It doesn’t have to be like this. Join us to stand against the Illegal Migration Bill, and call on the Government to #StartSafeRoutes by contacting your MP before the Bill returns to Parliament next week using our template letter.

Advocacy and Campaigns Lead

Iona Taylor