UK: Napier Barracks Covid outbreak shows Home Office 'just doesn't care' about people seeking asylum

In response to reports of another Covid outbreak at Napier Barracks, Steve Valdez-Symonds, Refugee and Migrant Rights Director at Amnesty International, said:

“Once again Napier Barracks is in the news for a Covid outbreak because the Home Office continues its reckless policy of holding people in this wholly unsuitable accommodation.

“No one should be forced to live in these squalid and inhumane conditions, certainly not people suffering serious trauma from the tortures and terrors they have fled and endured on journeys to seek safety here.

“This latest outbreak only adds to the sense that Home Office ministers have lost all sight - or indeed just don’t care - for the people involved.

“Holding people at Napier Barracks is profoundly irresponsible - not merely risking further spread of a virus that has caused so much death and destruction, but also doing wilful harm to the UK's asylum system and its purpose to protect people.”