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This week the Home Office starts sending more migrants to Napier army barracks in Kent
openDemocracy talks to former residents about the grim conditions. Their stories will shock you.
#closethebarracks https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/i-feared-i-would-die-life-inside-the-napier-barracks-asylum-seeker-housing/
openDemocracy talks to former residents about the grim conditions. Their stories will shock you.
#closethebarracks https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/i-feared-i-would-die-life-inside-the-napier-barracks-asylum-seeker-housing/
'The barracks were selected because more 'generous' accommodation would 'undermine public confidence in the asylum system''
'they're not supposed to be detained. In theory, their accommodation should allow them outside at any time. But even pre-COVID, residents lived with security guards on the gates, a barbed-wire fence around the perimeter, a curfew, and were only allowed out for 2 hours at a time'
'a third of respondents at Napier said they had felt suicidal, with people at high risk of self-harm put in a dilapidated “isolation block” considered “unfit for habitation'
'Ethan contracted COVID whilst he was there. Patel blamed the migrants for “mingling”, but Ethan says “It was impossible to practice social distancing. We were still sharing a bedroom with so many people who had tested negative.”'
'Portrayed in home office briefings as stopping migrants “being housed in hotels”, Patel’s plans appear to go much further, and to entrench the long-term use of this type of barracks-style “basic” accommodation.'
'The contractor running the Napier barracks, Clearsprings, has not responded to any of the allegations in this article. The firm has a long & troubled history of providing accommodation for asylum seekers, alongside other firms. It won a fresh 10-year contract in September 2019'
Read more about life at Napier Barracks, and how Britain treats people fleeing persecution and war > https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/i-feared-i-would-die-life-inside-the-napier-barracks-asylum-seeker-housing/
