Op-ed: Britain is not flooded by foreigners – those who do make it to our shores are stuck in a failing system
Tim Farron MP wrote for the Independent on 20th March 2021.
“We must not leave traumatised asylum seekers to deteriorate further in squalid and over-crowded conditions whilst waiting for administrative wheels to turn”
Last week’s inspection report on the Napier barracks, where the UK houses asylum seekers, lifted the lid on a situation that shames Britain. Public Health England had advised that as a result of the living conditions, once one person there was infected with Covid, a large-scale outbreak was “virtually inevitable”.
Unsurprisingly, 198 people, almost half the amount of people living at Napier, subsequently contracted Covid in January and February. Serious concerns about fire-safety and safeguarding were also recorded, and living conditions were described as impoverished and unsuitable for long-term accommodation. Some areas were described in the report, conducted by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, as “filthy”. I’ve seen the pictures; they aren’t exaggerating. The list of failures goes on.
I despair that our government – on our behalf – thinks it is appropriate to treat desperate people seeking sanctuary this way. I hear ministers go on about our proud history of welcoming refugees, but what about the reality today – what history are we making that future generations can be proud of?
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