Asylum seekers tried to set themselves on fire at former RAF base
Conditions are so bad at a former RAF base where hundreds of asylum seekers are homed that some tried to set fire to themselves, an alarming report says today.
Ministers have been warned it is "only a matter of time" before someone dies at RAF Wethersfield in Essex. It comes as a High Court challenge is launched over the use of the base in Home Secretary James Cleverly's constituency. One person living at the base said: "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 claim concerns about residents at risk of suicide aren't being addressed. A joint report by the Helen Bamber Foundation and Humans for Rights Network said clinicians have identified "intense desperation" among those living there, describing it as an "open-prison camp".
It comes just three days after a man died onboard the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset - which is also being used to house migrants - in a suspected suicide. It followed warnings about the mental health impacts of being placed on the vessel. One Iranian asylum seeker, named Salman, told 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.”
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The two charities say at least 11 children have been placed 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" people seeking 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 staff and volunteers are doing all they can to support residents in challenging their accommodation but, when reports of suicidal intentions are left unanswered and, in the light of the death of an asylum seeker on the Bibby Stockholm earlier this week, it is obvious why our legal challenge is so important in bringing to an end this systemic, unlawful process. It will literally safeguard people’s lives."
A Home Office spokesperson said: “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.”
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