Closure date set for barracks housing asylum seekers

A date has been set for the closure of army barracks in Kent which are being used to house asylum seekers, the BBC understands.

Napier Barracks in Folkestone is closing on 19 December despite government plans to move migrants out of hotels and into alternative accommodation, including military bases.

The Home Office plans to completely vacate the site by the end of the month to hand it back to the Ministry of Defence, ahead of onward transfer in March to a housing developer that purchased the site.

The Home Office said it did not comment on individual asylum accommodation sites or on operational arrangements around those sites.

However, it said the government would close every asylum hotel.

"Work is well under way, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities and cut asylum costs," the Home Office added.

"We are working closely with local authorities, property partners and across-government so that we can accelerate delivery."

The government said discussions were under way to use barracks in Crowborough in East Sussex and Inverness in Scotland to house about 900 male asylum seekers in total.

Napier Barracks housed more than 300 asylum seekers at its peak, but was believed to have fewer than 100 residents ahead of its closure.

The site was meant to be temporary accommodation during the Covid-19 pandemic, but its use was extended for five years.

The 130-year-old military site was hit by allegations of poor conditions following numerous inspections since February 2021.

MPs in 2022 compared the site to a prison and said it was "fundamentally unsuitable for use as asylum accommodation".

Nearly 200 people contracted Covid-19 during an outbreak at the camp.

Following the outbreak, a fire at the former army barracks was started deliberately in January 2021, police said.

At the time, the Home Office said people had "set about destroying the barracks" because they objected to not being moved from the site after a Covid outbreak.

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