Large camps don’t work
Local Conservative politicians were happy to support this Government’s disastrous policy of creating large camps to house asylum seekers.
Home Office minister Kit Malthouse and former Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes were strong advocates “until it came to building one in their own back yard in Barton Stacey. Now they scurry to support Council Leader Phil North’s petition which says that inhumane camps are fine “as long as they are put somewhere else”.
Large internment camps are not fine here in Hampshire or anywhere else. Cramming hundreds of people together with inadequate facilities, lack of privacy and poor access to health, legal and social support is something we rightly condemn in other parts of the world. The individuals concerned are not criminals and are often skilled professionals who simply cannot continue in their own countries and have crossed the world escaping from horrific regimes and wars. Creating large camps also impacts local communities putting a strain on services and often becoming a focal point for far-right extremists.