‘No one wants this on their doorstep': The last mass asylum camp that shows no sign of closing

Telegraph

29-03-2025

In Essex, near Braintree, there is a village where the population of a nearby accommodation site for asylum seekers will soon outnumber the population of the village itself. This is Wethersfield, the Government's flagship ex-military site turned asylum camp – a failing solution to an enormous problem. That problem, of course, is that the number of migrants arriving on British shores has reached an all time high; 5,847 people have arrived in Britain in small boats so far this year, an increase of 36 per cent year on year.
Last week, the Home Office announced it will hand back Napier Barracks in Kent to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in September 2025, which will make Wethersfield the only remaining mass accommodation site still operational. The Home Office started to purchase these 'large-scale sites' – a former prison, military bases and the Bibby Stockholm barge among them – to attempt to reduce the government's huge hotel bill.
They were beset by controversy from the start. In December 2023, a 27-year-old man was found dead on the Bibby Stockholm, which is docked in Portland, Dorset, in a suspected suicide. The Home Office spent millions on two others – RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, and HMP Northeye, a defunct prison in East Sussex – which were deemed unsuitable and will never be used.
But Wethersfield is in use and, crucially, there is no current plan to close it.
On July 12 2023, the first busload of asylum seekers arrived at the former RAF base that was last used by the US Airforce. Under proposals rushed through by Suella Braverman, then Home Secretary, it was decided that the site would be home to up to 1,700 men from the age of 18 to 65 while their asylum claims were processed. This cap was later dropped to 580, although the Home Office has recently informed Braintree District Council that it will be increased to 800. The population of Wethersfield itself is reportedly 707.
The camp has been as unpopular with local residents as it has been with the men held there while their claims are processed. Three of them, who were accommodated at Wethersfield between July 2023 and February 2024, described the conditions as 'prison-like.' Last month, a High Court judge declared that the Government had acted unlawfully in housing the men, who were victims of torture and trafficking, at Wethersfield. The Government said it was pleased the court found in favour of the Home Office on the majority of grounds and pointed out it 'inherited' the legal challenge from the Conservative administration.
It is not the first time the residents of Wethersfield have had foreign men living down the road. When the site was used by the US Airforce, the airmen hosted balls for the locals – some of the village's older residents still remember these fondly. However, fast-forward 50-odd years, and Wethersfield's new arrivals were not given such a warm welcome.
Braintree District Council launched an injunction to try and stop the site being used, which was denied. The cause united local people at both ends of the political spectrum – those campaigning for the rights of those seeking asylum and their opponents – in the belief that the plan should not go ahead. Residents were told the Wethersfield site was temporary, but strongly suspected it was anything but. In March 2024, inevitably, the Home Office utilised a 'Special Development Order' to extend its use for three years.
The site is remote: there is very little in Wethersfield itself, not even a pub. A row of postcard-perfect Georgian houses fringes a small village green. There is a 13th-century church, a small shop and a working men's club. It is clear its residents have tired of the media attention and closed ranks.
'I don't think you'll find anyone willing to speak to you,' says one resident. 'When [the site] first opened, there was a policeman who patrolled the villages and you would see a few of the men on the green,' says another, who wishes to remain anonymous. 'They were quickly moved on. Now, especially as we don't have a bus service, we don't see many of them. I keep myself to myself, and they seem to, too.'
In Braintree, where the camp's residents are regularly shuttled by bus, it is a different story. Locals were 'livid,' says David Dunleady, 56. 'No one wants this on their doorstep,' he adds. The main problem, he says, is that Wethersfield's residents 'have nothing to do. They're not allowed to work… some people get around this and work as deliverymen, which I suppose is better than nothing.' Dunleady, who runs a heating business, actually worked on the Wethersfield site some years ago, installing windows. The conditions 'aren't dire, not by any stretch,' he says. 'It's sort of like student accommodation. I suppose a military base is easier to police.'
The site itself is roughly three miles away from the centre of Wethersfield village, in flat, green countryside. In Home Office documents, the area is described as 'urban,' but in reality it is anything but. A series of low-rise, drab buildings and disused aircraft hangars are visible from the road. There is nothing else for miles. Mohamed, who gives his age as 22, and Jacky, who gives his age as 32, are wandering around the perimeter. I speak to them through the fence, before they come outside, which gives the site the look and feel of a detention centre, even though they are free to come and go. Both men are from war-torn Yemen, but they are living with men from Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt.
Both describe feeling listless and depressed, sleeping to while away the days. Like most of Wethersfield's residents, they crossed the Channel on a small boat. The journey took around six hours. They are sleeping three to a room. Mostly they stay inside – in any case, there is nowhere to go; just lanes and miles of farmland. There is a small gym, which they sometimes visit, and a football field. They have been 'asking and asking' for English lessons, but say none have been forthcoming.
Charities describe it as an 'open air prison camp'. Some of the site's residents say they are facing a mental health crisis so acute that suicide attempts have become routine. 'Some have tried to jump off the buildings, others try to hang themselves in the rooms, one tried to hurt himself in the kitchen, and one took too many pills,' a resident called Amir, told the Independent. Ambulances were called to the site three times per week last year.
A Home Office spokesman said: 'This government not only inherited an asylum system in chaos, but also a legal challenge regarding the use of the Wethersfield site. The judicial review confirmed the site is adequate, and we maintain it provides functional accommodation for those we have a legal obligation to support.'