Napier Barracks: A Home Office responsibility
We have argued strongly that the use of Napier Barracks should be reviewed on humanitarian and health grounds – while we urge the government to recognise the legal rights of asylum seekers and their responsibilities for the situation at the Barracks.
The fire which broke out on Friday 29th has brought the issues to national attention and these must be addressed by Priti Patel as Home Secretary.
We have issued a further statement today:
“FHCLP expresses our concern for all those affected by the fire at Napier Barracks last night, including the asylum seeker residents of the site and others living nearby, all of whom will have been extremely concerned by this incident.
This Sky report includes a number of highly judgmental and prejudicial comments from the Home Office, which are at odds with the measured and responsible tones of our emergency services, who bravely provided help and support for people at risk, as they always do.
We reiterate our call for the Home Secretary to both take responsibility and to show the compassion and objectivity which would be befitting the holder of any public office.”
The Sky News report can be found online here.
Also of interest will be this simple diagram showing how responsibility for Napier Barracks is structured, from the Home Office outward through a number of agencies, with our thanks to Jane Darling, Policy Officer for her work on this.
