Last modified on Sat 16 Jan 2021 12.41 EST
Pressure is mounting on the Home Office over its plans to house nearly 200 asylum seekers in what campaigners have described as a “prison-style” camp on the site of an immigration jail.
The construction of prefab-style accommodation at the privately run Yarl’s Wood centre in Bedfordshire follow a series of damning reports on conditions at two former army barracks sites in Kent and Pembrokeshire being used to hold up to 600 asylum-seeking men.
Campaigners have started legal action against the expansion of Yarl’s Wood, which is set to house its first asylum seekers imminently, while councillors in Bedford have spoken out against the new development.
THE Home Office is bypassing planning rules to expand the notorious Yarl’s Wood detention centre to hold 200 asylum-seekers while they await decisions on their claims.
Home Secretary Priti Patel is using emergency powers to construct single-occupancy portacabins on land next to the privately run removal centre in Bedfordshire.
Questions have been raised about the legality of using these powers, with lawyers preparing to challenge the move, the Morning Star understands.
It comes as the Home Office faces multiple legal actions over its use of former army barracks in Kent and Pembrokeshire where 600 asylum-seekers are being held in conditions described as “inhumane” and “prison-like.”