Fury as migrants allowed out of RAF asylums accommodation ‘riddled with scurvy and scabies’ to stay with relatives – with some even being ‘moved back to taxpayer funded hotels’
- Some asylum seekers at MDP Wethersfield have left for hotels and relatives
- Tory MP Jonathan Gullis says allowing migrants to live with relatives a ‘mockery’
Tory MPs have expressed fury after migrants who were moved to a former RAF base were allowed to move out to stay with relatives – and some were even reportedly moved back to taxpayer funded hotels within two days.
A report claims that at least two asylum seekers left the MDP Wethersfield in Essex – where cases of tuberculosis, scurvy and scabies have been discovered – for hotel rooms.
Another two also left the asylum accommodation to stay with relatives, the report said.
The move has been slammed as making ‘a complete mockery of our system’ by critics, The Daily Express reports.
Tory MPs have expressed fury after migrants who were moved to a former RAF base MDP Wethersfield (pictured) were allowed to move out to stay with relatives – and some were even reportedly moved back to taxpayer funded hotels within two days
A report claims that at least two asylum seekers left the MDP Wethersfield (pictured) in Essex – where cases of tuberculosis, scurvy and scabies have been discovered – for hotel rooms
Nearly 50 asylum seekers and migrants were sent to MDP Wethersfield just two weeks ago as part of moves by the government to cut the £6million a day fees paid to hotels.
Jonathan Gullis, Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, told the Express that he thought it was a ‘mockery’ that two people got to live with relatives and two others were taken to hotels ‘despite coming to this country illegally’.
He said it also made a ‘complete mockery’ of government plans to clear out hotel rooms and keep people in ‘less desirable accommodation’.
Mr Gullis urged the government to enact their Illegal Migration Bill and to detain those who have ‘behaved badly’.
The number of asylum seekers housed at Wethersfield is set to rise to approximately 1,700 in the next few months – and a site like it will also open in Scampton, Lincolnshire.
And it is planned that around another 3,000 will live on barges at ex military sites by this autumn – with the first set to be sent to Bibby Stockholm barge, which is moored in Portland, Dorset, next week.
Officials say around 3,000 asylum seekers will be housed on barges or on former military sites by autumn.
The Chatsworth Hotel which was used to house asylum seekers in Skegness
Jonathan Gullis (pictured), Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, told the Express that he thought it was a ‘mockery’ that two people got to live with relatives and two others were taken to hotels ‘despite coming to this country illegally’
Asylum seekers are set to be sent to Bibby Stockholm barge (pictured), which is moored in Portland, Dorset, next week
Another Tory MP, Craig Mackinlay, also criticised the move allowing asylum seekers to leave Wethersfield, telling the Express that it was ‘not a pick and mix approach’ about where they are going.
He said officials should tell asylum seekers that they are staying in the accommodation provided, regardless of whether it was an ex-RAF base or a barge.
The first migrants set to be housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge moored in Portland, Dorset, are expected to arrive next week.
The government has faced criticism over its use of Wethersfield to house migrants – and the High Court has accepted Braintree District Council’s challenge to hold a judicial review over the Home Office’s decision to use emergency powers to set up the site.
