Since 2020, the UK government has used former military barracks and a barge, the Bibby Stockholm, to house asylum seekers. These mass containment sites are not suitable accommodation for anyone seeking asylum, and they are particularly damaging for people with trauma and poor health.
We are horrified and extremely concerned about the far-right racist attacks on asylum hotels and violence against people seeking asylum, refugees, migrants, and minority communities, particularly Muslims. These disturbing images and threats of more organised attacks are taking a huge toll on the mental health of the people we work with – those who have survived some of the worst forms of human cruelty and have arrived in the UK in hope of finding protection.
Our new report with Humans for Rights Network (HFRN) and reveals that increasing numbers of men placed in RAF Wethersfield by the Home Office are self-harming and attempting suicide.
The Ambassadors for Change is a group of survivors with experience of the UK asylum system who campaign to ensure London is welcoming and fair for other people seeking safety. The Ambassadors for Change collectively decided to focus their advocacy targets on the standards of asylum accommodation and the impact it has on mental health in London.
Our new report with Asylum Aid shows the mental and physical health impact of people seeking asylum being forced to live in hotels for long periods of time.
On 20 March 2024 the government laid two 'Special Development Orders' (SDOs) granting temporary planning permission for the accommodation of people seeking asylum at two former RAF sites at Wethersfield in Braintree and Scampton near Lincoln.
This submission looks at the consultation on reforms to social housing allocations, proposed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities.
Our new report with Humans for Rights Network (HFRN) shows that the government’s use of Wethersfield airfield as a large ‘open-prison camp’ for men seeking asylum for the last five months has already caused profound harm and suffering.
We are deeply saddened at the news that a man died by suicide on the Bibby Stockholm Barge. We are however not surprised. This was as predictable as it was tragic.
Despite mounting opposition, the government remains determined to house people seeking asylum in large scale ‘accommodation centres’ on former military bases, causing significant harm to those who have already survived arduous journeys to reach the UK.
This briefing highlights our concerns that part of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will remove the proper and necessary checks on the exercise of executive power in the running and management of the asylum accommodation system in England, and will result in serious adverse impacts and harm both for people seeking asylum and for local communities.
This report looks at the impact of housing people seeking asylum in barracks accommodation on their physical and mental health and makes recommendations for an asylum housing system that is 'fit for purpose'.
