Helen Bamber Foundation and Humans for Rights Network call for Wethersfield to be closed down as a matter of urgency
A new report published today by the Helen Bamber Foundation (HBF) and the Humans for Rights Network (HFRN) finds that the new asylum accommodation site at Wethersfield is causing significant and irreparable harm to the asylum seekers that are being housed there.
You can download the 22-page report here. It draws on casework for 140 asylum seekers conducted by HFRN and 10 detailed assessments carried out by HBF clinicians.
Wetherfield is a remote 800-acre site in rural Essex that was formerly used by the RAF. The site is notable for being in the constituency of the new Home Secretary, James Cleverly.
The Home Office announced in March of this year that Wethersfield would be used to accommodate asylum seekers, with capacity to hold up to 1,700 single male adults. The first group of asylum seekers arrived at the site in July. By the end of October 2023, 508 men had been placed in Wethersfield.
HBF and HFRN's new report describes Wethersfield as an 'open-prison camp' which replicates many of the features found in immigration detention settings. The site is surrounded by barbed wire and roadblocks, and is heavily surveilled by CCTV cameras and security guards.
The report finds that the isolated, overcrowded, detention-like setting, with its lack of privacy and shared facilities, is causing additional pain and trauma to asylum seekers who have already endured conflict, oppression, abuse, torture and trafficking. Asylum seekers held at Wethersfield reported anxiety, depression, desperation, fear, self-harm and suicidal ideation.
The report states: "All residents assessed by HBF doctors displayed symptoms of worsening mental health following transfer to Wethersfield. These included low mood, loneliness, flashbacks, reduced appetite, weight loss, feelings of despair and difficulty sleeping. They were all experiencing a worsening in their PTSD symptoms since being placed there and they all presented with clinical symptoms of depression. In every case, HBF clinicians undertaking the assessments were of the medical opinion that the person's mental health was likely to continue to deteriorate whilst they continued to be held in Wethersfield. In one case the individual was a low suicide risk at the time of assessment, but the clinician made clear that there was a real risk of developing PTSD and increased risk of self-harm the longer they remained in Wethersfield."
Every individual spoken to by HBF clinicians and HFRN expressed some form of mental distress.
One man is quoted as saying: "My mental health is deteriorating day by day in the camp. … [T]hese conditions are not humane, they don't care about us at all here. They treat us like animals left in a farm. I have been to the nurse and talked about my mental health issues they don't care at all, only if I can manage to see someone after ages of waiting, they give me basic meds like paracetamol, that makes me hate the camp and myself even more."
An asylum seeker from Iran recounted how he had attempted suicide and how he and a group of six or seven people had tried to set themselves on fire due to the inhumane conditions at the site.
Wethersfield's resemblance to a prison also triggers traumatic experiences among residents who have experienced similar sites in the past. The men in Wethersfield said that either the conditions at the site caused a deterioration in their mental health or that Wethersfield was re-traumatising becuase they had endured some form of arbitrary detention or acute mistreatment in their country of origin or during their journey to the UK.
A Sudanese asylum seeker said Wethersfield was triggering traumas that he had experienced in a Janjaweed prison, leaving him unable to sleep.
The report highlights that the issues identified are common to large-scale, ex-military accommodation centres and are not unique to Wethersfield.
HBF and HFRN said: "These open-prison camps cause profound and irreparable harm to residents, harm that only intensifies the longer they live there. … Poor living environments, lack of privacy, lack of access to healthcare, legal services and community support, and the lack of assessment of vulnerability and risk are just some of the reasons why placing people in this type of accommodation is an inhumane way to treat those seeking protection."
In addition, the report finds the screening process for deciding who should be placed in Wethersfield is fundamentally flawed and inadequate. The Home Office is said to be frequently failing to identify people who are unsuitable to be housed at the site.
The report says: "Home Office data shows that between in the first three months of Wethersfield being open, 236 people were sent there and 54 (23%) of them were relocated for unsuitability reasons. HFRN has been sending Pre-Action Protocol letters on behalf of individuals held in Wethersfield, seeking to challenge the decision to move them there on the basis they are plainly unsuitable to be accommodated at Wethersfield. Between 16th October 2023 and 3rd December 2023 HFRN has assisted 25 individuals in successfully transferring from Wethersfield. Every one of these individuals is a survivor of torture, modern slavery or has acute mental health problems. This is a very high rate of failure to detect unsuitability prior to placement at Wethersfield. The actual number of those who fall within the unsuitability criteria may be much higher still – residents wishing to challenge their placement are entirely reliant on the advice and support being provided by charities who are forbidden from actually going into the site."
BBC News reported this week that an asylum seeker at Wethersfield said no one at the site is feeling safe and there was "almost nightly fighting" between residents. HBF and HFRN's report finds the same, stating: "Many residents reported being exposed to daily fights, residents in 'gangs' and people being injured. Fights often break out because residents are frustrated and because there are long queues for food and for the few activities that are available."
In concluding, HBF and HFRN call for Wethersfield to be closed down as a matter of urgency.
Maddie Harris, the director of HFRN, said: "Wethersfield is unsafe, for both the mental and physical health of the men held there and must be closed with immediate effect as. It is our belief that it is only a matter of time before someone dies in Wethersfield."
As the report notes, however, the Home Office has said it intends to extend the use of the site for a further three years. The Home Office said in a factsheet that Wethersfield provides basic and safe accommodation for asylum seekers and is designed to be as self-sufficient as possible, helping to minimise the impact on local communities and services.