The High Court ruled on 3 June that Napier Barracks provided inadequate and unsafe accommodation for asylum-seekers, and that a major COVID outbreak there was inevitable. The ruling also found that residents of Napier Barracks were unlawfully detained there.
This ruling comes after repeated warnings from senior public health officials, including Public Health England, that the site could never be made COVID-secure. Earlier this year, a COVID-19 outbreak hit the barracks, affecting nearly 200 residents. Responding to the judgment, JCWI’s Chief Executive Satbir Singh said:
“Today’s judgment proves that this Government not only ignores its own rules, but that it is reckless with people’s lives. Asylum seekers were unlawfully detained in appalling, crowded conditions. This was against all COVID guidance and Priti Patel had full knowledge that it would cause an outbreak. 
Abandoned, ramshackle military barr…