Huge fire breaks out at Napier Barracks where 400 migrants being held there have complained about living conditions and claimed they have been forced to share rooms with positive Covid cases

A fire has broken out at army barracks where the government is holding hundreds of asylum seekers.

Dramatic footage from the scene shows large plumes of smoke billowing into the sky as Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, as at least one of the buildings is on fire.

The barracks are being used by the Government to house 400 asylum seekers since September last year despite concerns about the conditions. 

Dramatic footage shows Napier barracks, where the Government is holding hundreds of asylum seekers in Folkestone, Kent, on fire this afternoon 

Pictures from the scene show dozens of emergency services on scene including police and ambulance crews. 

Kent police and fire crews are reportedly dealing with the incident and have been contacted for comment. 

This is a breaking news story and we will bring you more information as soon as it is available. 

A petition to close the camp in Kent and a similar facility in Wales has racked up thousands of signatures after it was launched a week ago.

Charities have repeatedly raised concerns about conditions inside Napier Barracks and Penally Barracks in Pembrokeshire since they were commandeered by the Home Office last year.

The petition by Freedom from Torture to empty the barracks in Kent and Wales and close them down racked up more than 10,000 signatures in less than two days.

Kolbassia Haoussou, lead survivor advocate at the charity, said: ‘A major crisis is unfolding in these unsanitary and dangerous places

Many of the people trapped here have low immune systems and mental health issues linked to the abuse they have fled.

‘The Government has the power to end this nightmare now. Empty the barracks, close the camps, save lives.’

Bella Sankey, director of charity Detention Action, echoed calls to shut the barracks ‘before they are engulfed by tragedy’.

Over the weekend, it emerged that a coronavirus outbreak had ravaged the Kent site with 120 thought to have tested positive. 

A number of migrants were reportedly evacuated from the site this week and taken to alternative accommodation in a bid to control the outbreak.

But some migrants who had been left behind and are still negative claimed they were being forced to share rooms with Covid-positive patients.

There are reports of asylum seekers carrying out hunger strikes in protest against the ‘unbearable conditions in the camp’, which is said to include 34 people sharing one shower. 

There have been further reports of suicide attempts in the Army barracks as mental health among its occupants deteriorates.

The Home Office, which took over the site last year, insisted the accommodation in Kent is ‘safe, suitable, (and) Covid-compliant’.

At the weekend the department said that a number of asylum seekers were being moved from Napier Barracks ‘temporarily’ into self-isolation facilities.  

Source: Read Full Article