THE Home Office has scrapped plans to house 200 asylum-seekers in a “prison-style” camp next to a detention centre — a major victory for local campaigners.
The department confirmed today that it has decided not to proceed with the proposals, which would have seen asylum-seekers “housed” in prefabricated portacabins beside Yarl’s Wood in Bedfordshire.
The plans, which emerged late last year, prompted a huge backlash from local MPs, councillors and campaigners, who launched legal action against the expansion of the notorious detention centre.
Campaigners had raised fears about asylum-seekers’ wellbeing at the remote site and the traumatising impact of being held on the estate of an immigration jail.