Plan to relocate asylum seekers from Napier Barracks to Hastings is dropped

Essex-based company Clearsprings Group has been contracted by the Home Office to manage refugee camps, including the Napier Barracks site in Folkestone, Kent.

Clearsprings had been considering relocating approximately 150 asylum seekers from the former army barracks site and moving them to a site in Magdalen Road, Hastings.

It comes after independent inspectors spent a week at the disused army barracks following calls for the facilities to be closed down, amid claims of unsafe conditions. Three weeks ago a fire broke out at Napier Barracks and 120 asylum seekers living there have been infected with Covid-19.

Hastings Borough Council confirmed that the Holy Child language school site, in Magdalen Road, was being looked in to for the purpose of relocating asylum seekers from the Folkestone site.

A spokesman for the council added: “But we believe that Clearsprings are no longer interested in it.”

Clearsprings has not responded to our request for comment.

Charity The Refugee Buddy Project: Hastings, Rother and Wealden said it was ‘delighted’ to hear the Home Office was not planning to open a new accommodation centre at this time.

The charity said the issue was discussed during a meeting with members of Hastings Borough Council, including leader of the council cllr Kim Forward, cllr Andrew Batsford (lead for housing) and Andrew Palmer (assistant director for housing and built environment),

The charity said: “We discussed a variety of issues facing people seeking refuge in our town, including the rumour that there was to be a new accommodation site opened in St Leonards.

“We were delighted to hear that, as far as the council is aware, the Home Office is not planning to open a new accommodation centre at this time. This is good news, not because we don’t want more people seeking refuge in our town but because the use of in-community housing, as is currently used in Hastings and St Leonards, is considered best practice by us and many other migrant and refugee organisations.

Rossana Leal, founder of The Refugee Buddy Project, said: “In-community accommodation, whilst not without its problems, is a far more humane approach to housing people seeking refuge in our community than single accommodation sites. We look forward to continuing our relationship with the council to provide a coordinated approach to support and welcome for everyone seeking refuge in our community.”