Asylum seekers tried to set themselves on fireplace at former RAF base
Conditions are so dangerous at a former RAF base the place lots of of asylum seekers are homed that some tried to set fireplace to themselves, an alarming report says at the moment.
Ministers have been warned it’s “only a matter of time” earlier than somebody dies at RAF Wethersfield in Essex. It comes as a High Court problem is launched over using the bottom in Home Secretary James Cleverly’s constituency. One particular person dwelling on the base mentioned: “I don’t think I can take it anymore, these conditions are not humane, they don’t care about us at all here. They treat us like animals left in a farm.”
Campaigners declare considerations about residents susceptible to suicide aren’t being addressed. A joint report by the Helen Bamber Foundation and Humans for Rights Network mentioned clinicians have recognized “intense desperation” amongst these dwelling there, describing it as an “open-prison camp”.
It comes simply three days after a person died onboard the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset – which can also be getting used to accommodate migrants – in a suspected suicide. It adopted warnings concerning the psychological well being impacts of being positioned on the vessel. One Iranian asylum seeker, named Salman, informed researchers: “I have attempted suicide personally because of the conditions of the camp. Once I tried to hang myself and once there was a group of us six or seven people tried to set ourselves on fire.”
More than 500 people have been housed at Wethersfield since the base opened for asylum seekers in July 2023 – with Afghanistan, Iran and Eritrea the most common places they fled from. It is in the constituency of Home Secretary James Cleverly, who previously said it “wasn’t appropriate” for asylum seekers because it was so remote. One man who fled Libya said: “When someone wakes up screaming, I don’t know what to do. I came through Libya this place is no different.”
The two charities say a minimum of 11 kids have been positioned there by the Home Office after being wrongly assessed to be adults. Maddie Harris, Director of Humans for Rights Network, accused the Government of “ghettoising” individuals in search of asylum, and added: “It is our belief that it is only a matter of time before someone dies in Wethersfield.”
Although people in Wethersfield aren’t detained by law, barbed wire and roadblocks around the base mean they are kept in “detention-like settings” the report sets out. In one case an asylum seeker who had been tortured by the Taliban suffered worsening flashbacks after being placed there, the report states. In a separate action, refugee support charity Care4Calais has filed a High Court challenge about Wethersfield’s use as asylum accommodation.
Care4Calais chief executive Steve Smith said: “Our workers and volunteers are doing all they will to assist residents in difficult their lodging however, when studies of suicidal intentions are left unanswered and, within the gentle of the loss of life of an asylum seeker on the Bibby Stockholm earlier this week, it’s apparent why our authorized problem is so necessary in bringing to an finish this systemic, illegal course of. It will actually safeguard individuals’s lives.”
A Home Office spokesperson mentioned: “The welfare of individuals at the site is of the utmost priority. All residents have access to medical support, including mental health support, and the food provided meets NHS Eatwell standards, catering for all cultural and dietary requirements. A 24/7 helpline provided by Migrant Help is available to raise any concerns.”
