The Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has blocked a charity from supporting asylum seekers staying in Home Office accommodation, i can reveal.
Refugee charity Care4Calais has been stopped from visiting asylum seekers at Napier Barracks, where it offers individuals legal and emotional support.
The legal clinics help asylum seekers to understand letters they have received from the Home Office about their claims or about possible deportation to Rwanda.
Care4Calais had been helping asylum seekers at the accommodation centre in Kent since 2020, before being abruptly told by Clearsprings Ready Homes, the contractor running the site, that it could no longer offer its services at the end of September. It said it was not given a reason for the decision.
The charity has also been blocked from entering RAF Wethersfield, another asylum seeker accommodation site, to give haircuts, clothes and shoes. It is instead having to use a local church several miles away.
Internal emails, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and seen by i, reveal the instructions came directly from Mr Jenrick’s office.
This year he was criticised after telling staff at an asylum reception centre to paint over wall art depicting Mickey Mouse, designed to provide a “welcoming” atmosphere for children.
The emails, initially obtained by Care4Calais, have had names redacted but the Home Office and Clearsprings Ready Homes appear to accuse Care4Calais of “encouraging” asylum seekers to “complain” about their housing conditions and “speak to the media”.
Care4Calais is a vocal critic of the Home Office over its immigration policies. It brought a legal challenge against the Government over its Rwanda policy in 2022 and has criticised policies such as the Illegal Migration Act, which will mean those who cross the Channel in a small boat cannot claim asylum in the UK.
Just two days prior to the email barring it from Napier Barracks, asylum seekers at RAF Wethersfield in Essex staged a protest at which Care4Calais said it attended to check on their wellbeing.
The charity believes its access to Napier Barracks was blocked in part due to this, and claims that the emails show asylum seekers are being penalised for the political spat between it and the Home Office.
The Home Office did not confirm why Mr Jenrick’s office had made the order.
Internal emails revealed
In response to a Freedom Of Information (FOI) request, the Home Office provided a copy of its communications with Clearsprings Ready Homes about Napier Barracks.
This included all written communications as well as recorded notes of calls or meetings where the cessation of access at Napier was discussed, according to the FOI.
On 27th September 2023 at 12:14pm: [Name redacted] Senior Project Manager, Sites Accommodation Programme, Home Office
“CRC [Clearsprings Ready Homes] colleagues,
“For your information, we have been directed yesterday by the Minister for Immigration’s office that Home Office is not to engage with Care4Calais either directly or indirectly in subgroups such as sub-MAFs etc. The Minister’s office is monitoring the situation going forward.”
Sub-MAFs are multi agency forums, which bring together bodies such as the NHS, charities and local authorities to work with the Home Office on the management of asylum accommodation.
Five minutes later: [Name redacted] Site Management Wethersfield, Contingency Operations & Mobilisations
“Thank you for info.”
Two hours later: [Name redacted but appears to have been sent by a contractor in response to the Home Office]
“Do you wish the Napier team to follow the same instructions? We certainly have considerable evidence that Care4Calais have been encouraging individuals not to travel, to complain, to engage with the media et cetera, so would be happy to disengage from this lobby group if you so wish. Please let us know.”
Forty minutes later: [Name redacted but appears to have been sent by the Home Office]
“I’m happy for this to apply to Napier also.”
Later that day: The contractors ask what they should say to Care4Calais to explain that it can no longer offer support to the asylum seekers.
[Name redacted] Operations Sites Manager, Clearsprings Read Homes
“Can you advise how we should approach Care 4 Calais to inform them that they can no longer hold their Legal Clinic on site this event is for every Friday but they do not come every Friday, last visit was 8th September.”
The next day: A Home Office staffer in the team overseeing Napier Barracks sends a suggested template almost identical to the email the charity received later that day.
[Name redacted] Service Delivery Manager – Napier Oversight Team, Home Office
“I suggest that you approach them along the lines of….. ….we have been informed by the Home Office that we will no longer be in a position to work with your organisation…..please accept this email that your services will no longer be required at Napier Barracks. Thank you for your support and assistance with Napier residents over the last few years (or however long they have been providing the legal clinic)……………“
Care4Calais said its team has never been allowed on site at RAF Wethersfield and was forced to provide support, such as distributions of clothes and shoes and hairdressing, either outside the gates or at a local church.
This is despite a clause in the Home Office’s contract for Wethersfield, also obtained by Care4Calais through a separate FOI and seen by i, stating that volunteer organisations must be allowed on site to offer services.
At Napier Barracks, Care4Calais had been offering a legal advice clinic most Friday afternoons since pandemic restrictions were lifted.
The clinic helped asylum seekers understand letters sent by the Home Office, referring people to lawyers if they had received notice that they would be sent to Rwanda and signposting other legal materials which might help them navigate the asylum system, the charity said.
Care4Calais’ Napier Barracks team said “being accessible to people on site is essential” to discuss legal issues.
“It isn’t appropriate to do this outside [the centre]… We wouldn’t want people having to walk around with all their important documents and letters, and not everyone has a phone to be able to receive remote support.”
The team said asylum seekers arriving at the site were “often very anxious” and that having advice from an independent body could be “reassuring”.
Steve Smith, chief executive officer of Care4Calais, claimed the Home Office was using the asylum seekers as a pawn in their “proxy war” against refugees.
“So ingrained has the Government’s lawless proxy-war against refugees become that we have the Immigration Minister personally intervening to prevent a charity from distributing clothes to a group of asylum seekers for the unholy crime of said asylum seekers making complaints or speaking to the media.
“Why is Mr Jenrick so scared of asylum seekers having a voice to speak out about their treatment? Is it because he, as Immigration Minister, has decided to put them behind barbed wire fences, in quasi-detention centres, where he has segregated them from UK society and he doesn’t want them telling the British public about their false imprisonment under his Government’s watch?”
When i asked the Home Office whether access to Care4Calais had been blocked from Napier Barracks and why, the department said the care of asylum seekers is paramount, adding that it works closely with partner organisations to ensure they can get the support they may need.
All asylum seekers in the UK can access healthcare and mental health support. Systems are in place to ensure that at-risk individuals are referred to emergency or social services.
The Home Office did not confirm whether any other charity has been brought in to replace Care4Calais at Napier Barracks.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We take the welfare of those in our care extremely seriously. At every stage in the process – from initial arrival, to any potential relocations – our approach is to ensure that the needs and vulnerabilities of asylum seekers are identified and considered.
“We work closely with our contractors, the NHS, local authorities and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the support they need and operates a Safeguarding Hub to support vulnerable individuals in accessing these services.”
Clearsprings Ready Homes said it had no further comment to add.
