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Asylum-seekers held up in ex-military barracks to take government to court

Six detainees at Napier Barracks argue that conditions at the site violate their human rights to life, freedom from degrading treatment and privacy

SIX asylum-seekers are taking the government to court over its use of ex-military barracks to house refugees, on the basis that conditions at the site breached their human rights. 

Mr Justice Chamberlain gave permission today for the former residents of Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, to launch a judicial review against its use as asylum accommodation.  

The six, who are all victims of trafficking or torture, argue that conditions at the site violated their human rights to life, freedom from inhumane or degrading treatment and privacy.

They also contend that the Home Office is unlawfully accommodating asylum-seekers at the camp, which is not Covid-secure as it is “impossible to socially distance.”

The Home Office has been holding hundreds of asylum-seekers at two ex-military sites — Folkestone and Penally Camp in Wales — since September. The decision was made despite Public Health England warning the Home Office it was unsuitable before anyone had been housed there.

In January more than 120 men tested positive for Covid-19 in Napier Barracks.

At a remote hearing today, the Home Office conceded that the asylum-seekers’ claim was “arguable” after key documents which undermined its written defence were discovered shortly before the hearing.

The Home Office’s barrister Lisa Giovannetti QC told the court that, after reviewing “a large volume of internal emails,” she was “not satisfied that the factual foundation is sufficiently solid or clear” for her to oppose permission for judicial review.

The claimants also allege that being held at the site, which is surrounded by barbed wire and tall fences, amounted to false imprisonment.

Judge Chamberlain told the court that residents had received a letter after the outbreak that stated they must not leave the site for any reason. This, he noted, was different from self-isolation guidance issued to the general public, which allows people to leave home for a limited number of reasons. 

The case comes after a judge ordered the urgent removal of one of the claimants from the barracks earlier this month, ruling that the site was “wholly unsuitable” for the man, highlighting the “prison-like” conditions and risk of Covid-19. 

The asylum-seekers’ case will be heard at a full hearing in April. 

Ms Giovannetti said that there are 63 people still in Napier Barracks, adding that the Home Office is “doing everything in the meantime, pending the full hearing, to make sure the accommodation is safe and adequate in the coming weeks.”

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