Napier Barracks: MP wants asylum seeker accommodation shut

An MP has called for an emergency asylum seeker accommodation centre in his constituency to be shut.

The first of several hundred people seeking asylum arrived at Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, in September.

People being housed there recently staged protests at "unbearable" conditions at the ex-military base.

Now local MP Damian Collins has called for its closure. The Home Office has been approached for comment.

Mr Collins said he had raised concerns about the suitability of using the barracks to accommodate so many people at the start of the process.

"The best solution would be for the asylum seekers to have their claims processed and for this facility to be closed down," he said.

In protest, residents have staged a sleep out and hunger strikes, and police were called on Tuesday when about 100 people walked out for about an hour.

The campaign group Care4Calais says three people are still refusing to sleep inside.

The group's founder Clare Moseley said: "The asylum seekers at Napier already face cramped, stressful, distressing conditions, and now they are terrified of catching Covid as well."

The camp has also been criticised by the Helen Bamber Foundation, a charity which works with refugees.

Jennifer Blair, from the foundation, said: "Doctors from our charity have assessed camp residents and are seeing a deterioration in people's health and welfare. The longer people are kept in these conditions the more desperate they are becoming."

Minister for immigration compliance Chris Philp has previously said asylum seekers are provided with "safe, warm, Covid-secure suitable accommodation where they receive three meals a day whilst their claims are being processed".

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