Napier Barracks: 'Evacuate asylum site', MPs told

A barracks where asylum seekers are held should be "evacuated", the Home Affairs Select Committee has been told.

MPs heard up to 28 asylum seekers at Napier Baracks have shared a room with a man who tested positive for Covid-19 but could not self-isolate.

Dr Jill O'Leary, of the Helen Bamber Foundation, said "immediate" action was needed for the safety of all concerned.

The Home Office said public health advice was being followed and the site was "safe, suitable and Covid-secure".

Dr O'Leary said she had carried out a remote clinical assessment on one resident at Napier and he told her he was sharing a dormitory with up to 28 others.

She said one of the 28 had tested positive and had been unable to self-isolate.

Dr O'Leary said the man she dealt with later developed coronavirus symptoms.

She said: "As we speak today there are still many people who have tested positive for Covid-19 who are sharing close quarters with people who are not currently unwell with Covid.

"The barracks needs to be evacuated immediately for the safety of all concerned."

The canteen and washing facilities were communal, making social distancing and hygiene measures "virtually impossible", Ms O'Leary added.

Testing was "intermittent" and conditions placed staff and asylum seekers at an "unacceptable risk", she said.

Committee chairwoman, Labour's Yvette Cooper, said to Dr O'Leary: "This is truly shocking."

Dr O'Leary told the committee that following an outbreak of the virus, 100 asylum seekers who had tested positive had been moved out of the barracks.

But she said: "I can confidently say that they [the barracks] are not Covid-19 compliant and the very existence of the outbreak in Napier would serve to contradict that statement."

Some of those "stuck in this accommodation" are "very frightened and very sick", she added.

Chris Philp, Immigration Compliance Minister, said infection control measures were in place and the site had been configured to maintain social distancing at all times.

He said: "As soon as Covid-19 cases were discovered at Napier, we took further control measures, which included testing and moving some asylum seekers who did not test positive to alternative accommodation, as part of our outbreak management plan.

"It is incredibly disappointing that prior to this a number of individuals refused tests and either refused to self-isolate or follow social distancing rules, despite repeated requests to do so."

Growing tensions at the site have seen several protests, calls from politicians and campaigners to close the site, and a disturbance last week that saw windows smashed and a building go up in flames.