Rishi Sunak: ‘listen to common sense’ and scrap plans for asylum camps on military bases and barges

Dear Prime Minister,

We write to express our opposition to the Government’s plans to warehouse and segregate people seeking asylum on military bases, former prison sites, ferries and barges.

We believe people should be housed in communities, not camps. Placing thousands of people in confined sites, in remote locations, will cause significant harm to people fleeing war and persecution and damage community relations. The sites at Wethersfield, Scampton, Bexhill and Catterick are deeply unsuitable, as was the planned site at Linton-on-Ouse. The proposals for the use of ferries and barges are risible and should not even be under consideration.

If these sites are allowed to go ahead, people seeking safety will find themselves isolated in prison-like conditions without adequate advice, healthcare, or support. These facilities will segregate and re-traumatise people, and are being planned with no consideration of either the needs of people seeking asylum or local communities. The complete lack of prior consultation with the communities where these sites are planned is inexcusable and emblematic of the Home Office’s wider approach.

Further, plans in the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill to significantly increase the scope for detention, raise the prospect of mass incarceration of people seeking safety. This is despite the scandal of Manston, where people were forced to exist in squalor beyond legal time limits. The racism behind an approach that visibly segregates people and forces them to live in prison-like conditions cannot be ignored.

Segregating people in this way, and doing so without any consultation with local residents, inevitably leads to community tensions. Furthermore, this approach creates clear targets for the far right, as we have seen in Manston, Knowsley, Llantwit Major, Linton-on-Ouse and other towns. It is only thanks to ordinary people standing up for a culture of welcome and solidarity in these areas that those tensions have not escalated further. But the Government’s plans, coupled with its incendiary rhetoric, means these divisions are only going to get deeper, and the problems more acute.

The use of hotels as ‘contingency’ asylum accommodation is a result of the Home Office’s enormous backlog of asylum cases, and its failure to work with local authorities to adequately plan and resource the asylum dispersal system. While private companies make huge profits from the outsourcing of asylum accommodation, people suffer and resentment grows.

The solutions lie not in headline-grabbing announcements and punitive accommodation regimes aimed at deterrence—none of which will succeed in their stated aims. The safest, quickest and most cost-effective way to end the use of hotels and fix the problems in our asylum accommodation system would be through making fair and timely decisions on people’s asylum claims. The Government must also recommit to working in partnership with local authorities and devolved administrations to improve asylum dispersal and accommodation, with adequate resources and meaningful consultation. Finally, the Government must scrap the Illegal Migration Bill that will only exacerbate these problems, and cause even more harm. These measures would be a step towards a system that enables people to rebuild their lives in our communities, in safety and dignity.

This is a manufactured crisis of the Government’s own making, and we refuse to stand by while vulnerable people and local communities pay the price. We urge you to listen to common sense and change course now, before you create an entirely preventable humanitarian catastrophe.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Hook, Director, Asylum Matters

Other signatories

• Nicola Jenner, Digital Communications Officer, The Pickwell Foundation
• Phil Davis, Director, Hope Projects
• Elli Free, Director, Room to Heal
• Caitlin Boswell , Policy & Advocacy Manager, JCWI
• Vicki Felgate and Kayte Cable, Co-Founders, Big Leaf Foundation
• Eiri Ohtani, Director, Right to Remain
• Denise McDowell, CEO, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit
• Jeremy Thompson, Manager, Restore – a project of Birmingham Churches Together
• Sally Daghlian OBE, CEO, Praxis
• Ros Holland, Chief Executive, Boaz Trust
• Dr Mohamed Nasreldin, Director, North of England Refugee Service
• Emily Crowley, Chief Executive, Student Action for Refugees
• Maddie Harris, Director, Humans for Rights Network
• Steve Newman, Chair, FODI, Sunderland
• Ruth Hicks, Lay Chair, Stockton St Peter’s Church
• Robert Miller, Group Secretary, Wearside Amnesty Group
• Stuart Crosthwaite, Secretary, South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG)
• George Reiss, Vice-chair, Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary
• Clare Hurst, Deputy Centre Director, North East Law Centre
• Stephanie Neville, Project Manager, Stories of Hope and Home
• Rabiyah K Latif, Birmingham Coordinator, Near Neighbours
• Mark Goldring, Director, Asylum Welcome
• Eleanor Brown, Managing Director, CARAS
• Duncan McAuley, CEO, Action Foundation
• Kate Alexander, Director, Scottish Detainee Visitors
• Thomas Martin, Director, City of Sanctuary Sheffield
• David Brown, Chair, Birmingham City of Sanctuary
• Amanda Church-Mcfarlane, Co-CEO, Abigail Housing
• Amos Schonfield, Founder & CEO, Our Second Home
• Alison Cookson, Coordinator, Social Action Group of Newcastle Reform Synagogue
• Mary Solomon, Founder, Humans of Wolverhampton
• Polly Gifford, Co-Chair, Hastings Community of Sanctuary
• Amber Bauer, CEO, forRefugees
• Jo Benefield, Campaign Coordinator, Bristol Defend Asylum Seekers Campaign
• Aderonke Apata, Founder and CEO, African Rainbow Family
• Aderonke Apata, Founder and Chairperson, Manchester Migrant Solidarity
• Zrinka Bralo, CEO, Migrants Organise
• Satinder Collins, Chair, Tees Valley of Sanctuary
• Mel Steel, Director, Voices in Exile
• Naomi Webb, Executive Director, Good Chance Theatre
• Penny Henry, Spokesperson, Tynemouth Together with Refugees
• Frank Parnham, Secretary, Barnsley Borough City of Sanctuary
• Joanne MacInnes, Director, West London Welcome
• John Mellor, Member, Ripon City of Sanctuary
• Heather Davies, Secretary, Hereford Amnesty International Group
• Veecca Smith Uka, Co-founder, Fresh Grassroots Rainbow Community
• Leeds Anti-Raids Action
• Karen Pearse, Director, PAFRAS
• Richard Davies, Chair of trustees, Wakefield District City of Sanctuary
• Deniz Ugur, Deputy Director, End Violence Against Women Coalition
• Keziah Berelson, Co-Artistic Director, Mafwa Theatre
• Michal Chantkowski, Manager, International Community Organisation of Sunderland (ICOS)
• Rev Gerard Goshawk, Minister, Six Ways Erdington Baptist Church
• Layla Ismail, Development Manager, Refugee Women of Bristol
• Angela Palmer, ESOL Development Worker, Migrant English Support Hub (MESH)
• Anna Jones, Co-Founder and CEO, RefuAid
• Nick Beales, Head of Campaigning, RAMFEL
• Catharine Walston, Trustee, Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign
• Will Sutcliffe, Chair, Bradford City of Sanctuary
• Bridget Young, Director, NACCOM
• Mark Courtice, Chair of Trustees, Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group
• Bail for Immigration Detainees
• Marissa Green, Chair of Trustees, Cambridge Convoy Refugee Action Group
• Alphonsine Kabagabo, Director, Women for Refugee Women
• Charles Dobson, Chair, Skipton Refugee Support Group
• Karen Whiteread, Director, PramDepot
• Joanne Thorns, Project Coordinator, Communities Together Durham
• Annika Joy and Lorraine McGrath, Director and CEO, Simon Community Scotland
• Dr Natalia Paszkiewicz, Project Lead, Da’aro Youth Project
• Halaleh Taheri, Founder & Executive Director, Middle Eastern Women and Society Organisation-MEWSO
• Andrea Kilvington, CEO, Standing Together
• Souad Talsi MBE, Founder & Interim CEO, Al-Hasaniya Moroccan Women’s Centre
• Angie Herrera, Director, Latin American Women’s Aid
• Stacy Smith, CEO, Her Centre
• Rob Hooper, Pastor, OASIS Church, inner Birmingham
• Karen Ingala Smith, CEO, nia
• Wendy Lewis, Manager/Founder, Free2B-Me LGBTQ+ Community Organisation
• Sonia Jalal, Founder and Director, Hull Sisters
• Ryn Bentham, Deputy Manager, Asha North Staffordshire
• Seána Roberts, Manager, Merseyside Refugee Support Network
• Seána Roberts, Administrator, Liverpool City of Sanctuary
• Gisela Valle, Director, Latin American Women’s Rights Service
• Amber Ray, Communications and Engagement Officer, Calderdale Valley of Sanctuary
• Andrew Harwood, Project Manager, Welcome Group Halesowen
• Shantele Sutherland, Director/CEO, Cheshire, Halton & Warrington Race & Equality Centre
• Ben Gilchrist, CEO, Caritas Shrewsbury
• Revd. Ian Rutherford, City Centre Minister, Methodist Central Hall Manchester
• Andrew Copson, Chief Executive, Humanists UK
• Rev. Dr. Joseph Cortis, Coordinator, Caritas Leeds (Catholic Diocese)
• Tony Pearce, Chair, Stafford Welcomes Refugees
• Shafiq Ahmed, Founder, Haji Bashir Ahmed Foundation
• Kathryn Ashworth, CEO, Solace Surviving Exile and Persecution
• Jas Bhatoa, Senior Legal Officer, Rights of Women
• Mimi Wilsher, Policy Coordinator, Caritas Salford
• Peter John Chapman, Co-ordinator for RAS development, Stockton Baptist Church
• Caroline Voaden, CEO, Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Services
• Phil Kerton, Co-Director, Seeking Sanctuary
• Ted Britton, Chair of Trustees, West Yorkshire Destitute asylum Network (WYDAN)
• Azizzum Akhtar, CEO, Rotherham Ethnic Minority Alliance
• Sarah Teather, Director, Jesuit Refugee Service UK
• Josie Naughton, CEO & Co Founder, Choose Love
• Enver Solomon, CEO, Refugee Council
• Mike Wild, Chief Executive, Macc
• Siobhan Taylor-Ward, Solicitor, Vauxhall Community Law and Information Centre
• Moyra Irving, Director, The Extra Guest
• Sarah Wilson, Director, Penrith and Eden Refugee Network
• Jabeer Butt, CEO, Race Equality Foundation
• Alison Boydell, Co-founder, JURIES
• Emma Hawthorne, Chair, BIRCH Birmingham Community Hosting
• Rachel Wing, Treasurer, Refugee and Asylum Project Stockton on Tees
• Christopher Halliday, Volunteer, Oldham Unity
• Julie Longden, Founder, United Peoples Movement
• Ernie Whalley, Chair, Reach Project for Asylum seekers, Huddersfield
• Sheila Mosley, Member of the Steering Group, Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network – QARN
• John McKernaghan, Chief Officer, The Brunswick Centre
• Elizabeth Crompton, Founder, Allyship
• Nina Houghton, Joint Coordinator, Merseyside Solidarity Knows No Borders
• Andy Collins, Coordinator, Borderland Voices, arts for health and mental well-being
• Major Adrian Lee, Commanding Officer / Minister, The Salvation Army Huddersfield
• Barbara Forbes, Local coordinator, Birmingham Schools of Sanctuary
• Sally Smith, Managing Director, Sanctus
• Jayne Butler, CEO, Rape Crisis England & Wales
• Fran Wood, Chair, Darlington Assistance for Refugees
• Sue Arnall, Honorary Treasurer, the Eagles Wing
• Ann Bettys, Clerk, Huddersfield Quaker Meeting
• Jaqui Cotton, Chair, Growing Together Levenshulme
• Jane Wood, Project Coordinator, Shared Goods Charity
• Jane Wood, Steering Group Member, Sanctuary Kirklees
• Dr Fiona Vera-Gray, Deputy Director, Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit
• Andy Brown, Committee Member, Harmony Choir Leeds
• Maureen Connolly, CEO, Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid
• Tim Naor Hilton, Chief Executive, Refugee Action
• Rachel Adamson and Laura Tomson, Co-Directors, Zero Tolerance
• Philip Moore, Director, Moores Metals
• Mary-Ann Stephenson, Director, Women’s Budget Group
• Liz Hibberd, Strategic and Partnership Lead, Manchester City of Sanctuary
• Rebecca Kogan, Fresh Claims Project Coordinator, Nottingham Arimathea Trust
• Clare Campbell, Operations Manager, Walking With in North Tyneside
• Ewan Roberts, Centre Manager, Asylum Link Merseyside
• Sebastian Rocca, Founder and CEO, Micro Rainbow CIC
• Kathleen Grant, Secretary/Trustee, RAPAR (Refugee and Asylum Seeker Participatory Action Research)
• Heather Petch, Executive Director, Refugee Futures Ltd
• Sarah Jemison, Chair of Trustees, BEACON (Bradford Ecumenical Asylum Concern)
• Dr Kate Smith, Senior Research Fellow, Just Futures Centre for Child, Youth, Family and Community Research, University of Huddersfield
• Diana Nammi, Executive Director, IKWRO – Women’s Rights Organisation
• Jules Palfreyman, Chair, Greater Manchester Equality Alliance (GM=EqAl)
• Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE, CEO, Surviving Economic Abuse
• Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director, René Cassin, the Jewish voice for human rights
• Phillip J Welldrake, Secretary, Greater Manchester Patients Not Passports
• Alyson Rosemary Malach, Director, EDUK
• Aasifa Usmani, Programme Manager, The Faith and VAWG Coalition
• Iona Taylor, Advocacy and Campaigns Lead, Positive Action in Housing
• Simon Tyler, Executive Director, Doctors of the World UK
• Tracy Blackwell, Director of Strategic Insights and Partnerships, Refuge
• Traci Kirkland, Head of Charity, Govan Community Project
• Jo Cobley, CEO, Young Roots
• James Wilson, Director, Detention Action
• Bill Dennis, Voluntary Chair, Kirklees Multi-Agency Group
• Shereen Cowley, LGBTQIA+ Asylum Seeker & Refugee Support Lead, Sahir House
• Gail Heath, CEO, The Pankhurst Trust (inc Manchester Women’s Aid)
• Peter Oluoch, Chief Officer, Humber Community Advice Services Ltd
• Andrew Quinn, CEO, Father Hudson’s Care
• Mandy Littlewood, Director, Refugees & Mentors CIC
• Sabir Zazai, CEO, Scottish Refugee Council
• Harriet Wistrich, Director, Centre for Women’s Justice
• Beth Gardiner, CEO, Safe Passage International
• Sobiya Din, Women’s Mental Health project Lead, WomenCentre Kirklees
• Agnes Baziwe, CEO, Africa Advocacy Foundation
• Phil Watson, Chair, Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle Justice & Peace Co-ordinating Council
• Emma Ginn, Director, Medical Justice