Napier barracks, one of the first mass accommodation sites opened to house asylum seekers, will not be closing as planned in the coming weeks, as the government attempts to deal with an influx of small boats arrivals.
Officials informed parliament in a Home Office document uploaded to parliament’s cross-party home affairs committee in March 2025 that “the Home Office intend to occupy and deliver services at Napier until September 2025, at which point the site will be handed back to the Ministry of Defence”.
Napier has capacity to accommodate 328 male asylum seekers, but in recent months numbers have been winding down to as few as 40 people in preparation for its closure, according to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working directly with asylum seekers living there.
But now numbers have started to jump again and people are being taken to Napier soon after arriving on the Kent coast in small boats. It is thought that the Home Office is extending its use of Napier owing to the high number of recent small boat arrivals, more than a 50% increase on the same period last year and the increasing pressure the government is coming under from anti-migrant protesters outside asylum hotels.
The number of asylum seekers accommodated at Wethersfield, in Essex, the other mass accommodation site used by the Home Office, have increased by more than 50% to about 1,200.
Mass accommodation sites for asylum seekers have proved controversial, with proposals to use RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and another military base at Linton-on-Ouse never getting off the ground.
It recently emerged that the Home Office lost at least £48m on the Scampton scheme, devised by the previous government, although no asylum seekers were ever accommodated there.
Napier has been marred by controversy since it opened owing to a mass Covid outbreak, decrepit facilities and far-right protests.
Sally Hough, the director of Napier Drop-In Centre, which provides support and activities for asylum seekers housed at the site, said: “Our funding is due to run out in August to coincide with the closure of the camp so it’s hugely disappointing and frustrating to know that the camp will continue without this essential support hub. The impact on the camp residents will be significant; it’s only due to NGOs like ours that the camp has become a welcoming supportive environment for vulnerable people.”
Steve Smith, the chief executive of Care4Calais, said: “These large-scale, militarised sites, like Napier and Wethersfield, have a longstanding physical and mental health impact on those accommodated there. What is currently happening is people are being sent straight to Napier from Manston. The majority arrive with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The level of need is greater and it makes living on these sites much more difficult. It is deeply concerning that the government is not only keeping the site open, but appearing to revert back to a model that caused so much trauma when Napier first opened.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We continue to work closely with stakeholders across the country, including other government departments and local authorities, to fulfil our statutory obligations and deliver on our commitments to reduce the cost of asylum accommodation and end the use of asylum hotels by the end of this parliament. Any updates regarding specific sites will be notified to the relevant stakeholders in the normal way.”