Rishi Sunak faces legal battle from Essex residents over his new migrant plan
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick today formally announced that MDP Wethersfield, which was used by the RAF in World War 2, will be one of three sites to be used to house asylum seekers.
Tony Clarke-Holland, a senior member of the Fields Association, the local residents’ group fighting the asylum seeker centre, told the Express that the Home Office is using de facto “national crisis powers” to overrule local leaders’ right to scrutinise any application to develop the Wethersfield site.
He said that local politicians have been told by the Home Office that the department “doesn’t need to consult with the local authority to make this happen”.
The local parish council were told about the Home Office’s decision to use the site to house asylum seekers out of “courtesy”.
Both the Fields Association and Braintree District Council are taking legal action against the Home Office for overriding local politicians’ right to oversee planning applications.
Braintree District Council said: “We are aware of the Home Office’s plans and we are taking appropriate legal action to challenge them as to the powers they intend to use in terms of planning and building control.”
Regarding their own legal action, the Fields Association said: “Initial legal advice has been sought and we are in dialogue about the action to be taken with Braintree District Council as the local planning authority responsible. We are gathering evidence so that we are ready as and when we need to take legal action.”
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On Wednesday, Mr Jenrick told the Commons: “Today the Government is announcing the first tranche of sites we will set up to provide basic accommodation at scale.
“The Government will use military sites being disposed of in Essex and Lincolnshire, and a separate site in East Sussex.
“These will be scaled up over the coming months and will collectively provide accommodation to several thousand asylum seekers through repurposed barrack blocks and portacabins.”
Braintree council has told local MPs: “We have now applied to the High Court for an interim injunction. This injunction challenges the Home Office proposals to place asylum seekers at Wethersfield Airfield.
“We would expect such an application would be heard within seven days, and we expect the matter to be heard by the High Court before any asylum seekers are occupied on site. We will provide further updates as we know more.”
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
The government is right to point out that millions of pounds of taxpayers money are wasted every day on housing men, women and children who have come to our country seeking asylum in hotels.
They are there not there because they want to be but because of the government’s own appalling failings. Its colossal mismanagement of the asylum system has left more than 150,000 people living in limbo waiting on average more than 18 months for a decision on their claim. In neighbouring European countries such as Germany decisions are made in just six months.
Let’s remember who these people are. The majority are refugees escaping bombs and bullets, repression and persecution, without alternative ways to seek safety in the UK. Last year three quarters of those who applied for asylum in the UK were allowed to stay to rebuild their lives.
We rightly opened our hearts and our homes to those from Ukraine whose lives were turned upside down by the war in their country. Yet the government now wants to treat those from countries such Syria, Eritrea, Sudan, Afghanistan and Iran as criminals, locking them up in unsuitable accommodation and threatening them with deportation.
Announcements about using former military sites and prisons do not provide any serious, workable solutions. The government’s own research shows they won’t act as a deterrence. Instead we should be providing accommodation which treats people with humanity, dignity and compassion, not barges and shipping containers.
At the same time people should be given a fair hearing on UK soil, something Winston Churchill proudly stood up for when we were one of the founding signatories of the UN Convention on Refugees more than seven decades ago.
Throwing people into former military camps, locking them up and deporting them will not act as a deterrent. It is not who we are as a country.We can do so much better than this when it comes to reaching out to support those in need of safety and sanctuary.
