ASYLUM-SEEKERS are being transferred straight from the notorious Napier barracks in Kent to detention centres for removal, sparking fresh concerns over access to justice. 

The Home Office claims that the grim former army camp in Folkestone is a temporary facility for asylum-seekers before they are transferred to supported accommodation. 

But one asylum-seeker has told the Morning Star that he was transferred almost directly from the camp to a detention facility. 

This is problematic, as lawyers and campaigners have repeatedly raised “serious concerns” about access to justice at the barracks, meaning that asylum-seekers risk being detained and removed without the chance to access legal advice. 

Saleh — his name has been changed to protect his identity — was kept at Napier barracks for three months. Throughout that time he was unable to access legal advice and is now facing removal to an EU country. The Yemeni national was moved from the barracks last month to a hotel. He was detained the next morning and is now being held at Brook House detention centre, near Gatwick airport. 

Bail for Immigration Detainees research and policy co-coordinator Rudy Schulkind said asylum-seekers arriving to Britain are being “herded like cattle through a string of places of detention.”

He said: “They are isolated and denied access to support, their vulnerabilities are ignored and the entire process that they are subject to is deliberately mystified by the government and private contractors running detention facilities. 

“Many people are first given the opportunity to speak to a lawyer just days before their removal, while others may be removed without ever having accessed legal advice. This is the reality of the government’s ruthless deportation drive.”

Dozens of asylum-seekers who crossed the Channel on small boats earlier this year are set to be deported this week on three charter flights. 

Meanwhile, more than a dozen asylum-seekers,  including five children, landed in Kent on Monday in near-freezing temperatures.