The government has no current plans to house migrants at a former RAF base on the edge of the Harrogate district, Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has said.
The government scrapped plans last year to house 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton-on-Ouse after a fierce backlash from local people and politicians.
The former airfield is nine miles from Boroughbridge, 13 miles from Knaresborough, and even closer to Harrogate district villages such as Great Ouseburn, Little Ouseburn and Nun Monkton.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told the Commons yesterday the government was now considering housing migrants at at Catterick Garrison in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency.
Ex-military bases in Essex, Lincolnshire and East Sussex are also being assessed for suitability as part of plans to cut down on hotel use.
Former Home Secretary Priti Patel, who was behind the Linton proposal, said the proposed Essex site “is no different in rurality and village size from a former site, Linton-on-Ouse”, adding:
“Why is it deemed appropriate for asylum seeker accommodation for single men to be placed in a rural village in Essex, where there is no infrastructure and no amenities, when it was not appropriate for somewhere like Linton-on-Ouse?”
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In response, Mr Jenrick said:
“We do not have a current plan to proceed with the Linton-on-Ouse proposition, but the sites I have announced today are just the first set that we would like to take forward, because we want to remove people from hotels as quickly as possible and move to this more rudimentary form of accommodation, which will reduce pull factors to the UK and defend the interests of the taxpayer.
Labour shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper described the announcement as “an admission of failure” on asylum policy.
County council criticises Home Office again over ‘dumping asylum seekers’North Yorkshire County Council has criticised the Home Office for its treatment of those seeking asylum after it scrapped plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at a former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse
Conservative Cllr David Chance, executive member for stronger communities, said despite having repeatedly been made aware of the complete unsuitability of a hotel near Selby as bridging accommodation for Afghan refugees, the Home Office had announced it now intended to use it for asylum seekers instead.
The move has emerged just weeks after the Home Office revealed it no longer intended to send asylum seekers to Linton on Ouse, which is four miles from Great Ouseburn and Little Ousburn in the Harrogate district, not far from Knaresborough and Boroughbridge.
It also comes just three weeks after the final Afghan refugees left the hotel near Selby. After leaving the accommodation, Marwa Koofi, 21, who fled Kabul when the city fell to the Taliban last year, said she had since “wasted a year because my hotel was in a location where I couldn’t do anything”.
A meeting of the executive of the county council, which in partnership with a range of agencies continues to provide support to the Afghan refugee families in another bridging hotel in Scarborough, heard families at the Selby hotel had been moved to other hotels.
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Cllr Chance said he was unaware of the proposed number of asylum seekers at the hotel.
He said the hotel had written to the government asking to be considered as bridging accommodation for refugees, “much against our better judgement”.
Coun Chance said:
“We said that to the Home Office at the time. We do not believe this hotel is suitable for this purpose and I can’t support it.
“You are putting individuals in the middle of a motorway complex with nothing to do and it’s totally wrong, but out of our hands.”
After the meeting, Selby councillor and leader of the council’s Labour group Councillor Steve Shaw Wright said as the hotel was on the side of the former A1 those staying there would face having to walk miles to get anywhere.
He said while Selby Town Council had funded buses to get the Afghan refugees into the town so they could mix with people of their own faith, local councillors had been “really pleased” when they heard the government would close it for refugees.
Cllr Shaw Wright said:
“We hoped they would go to somewhere more suitable, but it was announced it would be a hotel for individual asylum seekers. That’s even worse because how are they going to cope in the middle of nowhere and, if they’re waiting asylum seekers, some of them might go walkabout.
“It’s an example of the government not having a clue what they are doing with these people and it’s not fair on the asylum seekers and refugees and it’s also not fair on the local community.
“It seems like a knee-jerk decision to dump refugees in the middle of nowhere.”
A Home Office spokesman said the response to the crisis in Afghanistan last August was one of the most challenging, intense and complex overseas operations undertaken by the UK, and the largest air evacuation operation in recent memory.
He added:
Ouseburn councillor welcomes decision to scrap Linton asylum centre“While hotels do not provide a long-term solution, they do offer safe, secure and clean accommodation. We will continue to bring down the number of people in bridging hotels, moving people into more sustainable accommodation as quickly as possible.”
Ouseburn councillor Arnold Warneken has welcomed today’s announcement that plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton-on-Ouse have been scrapped.
The government planned to create a reception centre at the former airfield, which is close to villages in the Harrogate district including Great Ouseburn, Little Ouseburn and Nun Monkton.
The airfield is also just nine miles from Boroughbridge and 13 miles from Knaresborough.
But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said today he had withdrawn the offer to the Home Office for the site.
Green Party councillor Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn on North Yorkshire County Council, said withdrawing the offer was the “right thing to do”. He said:
“It was an ill-thought plan that caused distress and sleepless nights for residents. The consequences would have been huge.”
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Cllr Warneken said the episode revealed was a concerning lack of consultation by the government.
He said he suspected the reason was because a consultation “would have provided a different answer to the one they wanted to hear” but nevertheless this was not the right way to proceed.
Linton on Ouse Action Group, which was set up to campaign against the Home Office’s plan, welcomed the news.
Group member Kelly Kirby said it was “absolutely delighted” but also concerned that the same scheme could be dropped on another community soon.
She said action group members has spent “tens of thousands of hours” opposing the scheme.
By no means a victory but some movement. We will continue to hold @ukhomeoffice to account for their failings in processing and their hostile treatment of asylum seekers. It is by no means over.
— Linton on Ouse Action Group (@LintonAction) August 9, 2022
Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, also welcomed the news that Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak had no plans to revive the Linton scheme.
Wonderful News! @RishiSunak Sunak pledges to axe 'inappropriate' Linton-on-Ouse asylum centre plan @LintonAction https://t.co/O0EwPCc3QS
— Kevin Hollinrake MP (@kevinhollinrake) August 9, 2022
Home Office asylum centre near Harrogate district an ‘abuse of power’, says MP
A Conservative MP has described plans by his own government to build an asylum centre in Linton-On-Ouse as an “abuse of power”.
Kevin Hollinrake, who represents Thirsk and Malton, called a debate in the House of Commons on the matter yesterday.
The government is pressing ahead with plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers for up to six months in a ‘reception centre’ a former RAF base in the village, which is four miles from Great Ouseburn and Little Ouseburn in the Harrogate district, nine miles from Boroughbridge and 13 miles from Knaresborough.
However, the plan has been widely criticised by residents and politicians.
During the debate yesterday, Mr Hollinrake said:
He said:
“I said right at the start that this is an abuse of power, and I do not think that is putting it too strongly. The Home Office is using its emergency powers, with a Q notice, so it did not have to go through the planning process for this material change of use, which it undoubtedly is.
“The reason for those powers—why is it an emergency?—was, we were told, covid. Well, we thought that covid was actually largely behind us, especially at this time of year.
“I do not think it is right to say that covid can be one of the reasons why we are using emergency powers in this way.”
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Mr Hollinrake went on to question what support and funding would be in place ahead of asylum seekers arriving at the centre.
Police car and CCTV to be deployed
He said he had been told a double manned police car would be located in the village 24/7 and CCTV would be installed.
However, Mr Hollinrake said it was unclear when those plans would be put in place.
He said:
“Those potential mitigations would help, but it is not clear that those plans will be in place on May 31 when service users move in. I have also not seen a clear plan anywhere.”
He added that there has been “an indication” by the Home Office that next week’s first set of arrivals, which includes 60 people, may be delayed.
Last week the chair of Ripon City of Sanctuary joined calls to pause plans for the centre.
Residents in Linton-On-Ouse ahead of a public meeting over the planned asylum centre. Picture: Linton-On-Ouse Action Group.
Nicola David, chair of the sanctuary, told the Stray Ferret the centre was not suitable for refugees or the village.
She said there would be too many asylum seekers to residents at the site.
She said:
“Everybody is in agreement. Everybody is saying it is completely unsuitable.
“The only people who are saying it is [a good idea] is the Home Office.”
Why are refugees being sent to Linton?
The controversial proposal for Linton-on-Ouse is part of a wider plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed.
Before potentially being flown out to the African country, asylum seekers will be held in ‘reception centres’ across the UK for up to six months, with the first announced being at Linton-on-Ouse.
Ms Patel said:
Ripon refugee charity joins calls opposing 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton“The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions. There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.
“Existing approaches have failed and there is no single solution to tackle these problems. Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK illegally.”
A Ripon refugee charity has joined calls to pause plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at a former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse.
Nicola David, chair of Ripon City of Sanctuary, attended a public meeting in the village last night which saw Home Office officials jeered on arrival.
The government is pushing forward with its plan to house 1,500 asylum seekers for up to six months in a ‘reception centre’ on the site, which is four miles from Great Ouseburn and Little Ousburn in the Harrogate district and not far from Knaresborough and Boroughbridge.
At the meeting, Ms David described Priti Patel, the home secretary, as a “hypocrite” because she comes from a Ugandan refugee family but shows little compassion for other refugees.
She said the Home Secretary had “pulled up the ladder” behind other refugees.
Ms David told the Stray Ferret:
“How can you put people fleeing war on a military base?”
“It’s a troubling thing to do to asylum seekers.”
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Ms David, who discussed the issue on BBC Breakfast today, added that it was only the Home Office which wanted the scheme to go-ahead. She pointed out that there would be too many asylum seekers to residents at the site.
She said:
“Everybody is in agreement. Everybody is saying it is completely unsuitable.
“The only people who are saying it is [a good idea] is the Home Office.”
Home Office were not living their best life last night – from the moment they arrived, they took a pounding. I put it to them that Priti & Rishi are hypocrites who, as children of immigrants, have had every opportunity in this country but have pulled up the ladder behind them. https://t.co/t8hygkNlRY pic.twitter.com/jdjmgXL5iT
— Ripon City of Sanctuary (@RiponCoS) May 20, 2022
Residents at last night’s meeting were told that 60 asylum seekers will arrive at the site by the end of the month and will be mostly men.
Home Office officials also said Ms Patel planned to visit the village to speak with residents about the centre.
The controversial proposal for Linton-on-Ouse comes as part of a wider plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed.
Before potentially being flown out to the African country, asylum seekers will be held in ‘reception centres’ across the UK for up to six months, with the first announced being at Linton-on-Ouse.
Ms Patel said:
Home Office accused of ‘disgraceful actions’ over Linton asylum plan“The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions. There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.
“Existing approaches have failed and there is no single solution to tackle these problems. Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK illegally.”
A Conservative-led council has voiced fury after the Home Office announced it had moved forward plans to open a centre for asylum seekers on the edge of the Harrogate district.
A meeting of Hambleton District Council heard claims the Home Office had treated the residents of Linton-on-Ouse and the surrounding area with “complete contempt” by revealing that 60 people would be arriving at the centre in the isolated village from May 31, weeks earlier than it previously stated.
The centre will be just 10 miles from Boroughbridge and 13 miles from Knaresborough, and on the doorstep of Harrogate district villages such as Nun Monkton, Great Ouseburn and Green Hammerton.
Ministers have insisted the centre, at a former RAF training base, will “provide safe and self-sufficient accommodation”.
They say the centre, where Prince William trained as a pilot, will help end the Home Office’s reliance on expensive hotels, which are costing the taxpayer £4.7million a day.
The authority’s leader, Cllr Mark Robson, said during a meeting with the police and crime commissioner, Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake that the Home Office’s announcement had come as “a bit of a bombshell”.
He said:
“What we were told four to six weeks just before Easter has suddenly become two weeks time.
“I’m in no doubt about how much worry and concern there is in the local community and the surrounding areas about this proposal from government.”
He said the authority was working to get answers about the situation as quickly as it could. Cllr Robson the authority had appointed a legal team and was anticipating receiving advice imminently.
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Ouseburn councillor: ‘pause thoughtless Linton asylum centre’
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Village on fringes of Harrogate district to house asylum seekers
The council leader said elected members and officers had been “in constant and robust dialogue” with the Home Office, and that the council was expecting a response to the council’s concerns later this week.
Cllr Robson said:
“We have, in the strongest possible terms, asked that the Home Office pause this proposal immediately to allow for consultation to be carried out and are awaiting the response to this ask.
“Officers and members continue to take part in multi-agency meetings and support and work closely with the local community and surrounding areas. Although frustrating and concerning, it is very important that what we do now doesn’t prejudice any outcome from the legal process.”
‘Goalposts have changes again’
Linton-on-Ouse Cllr Malcolm Taylor said while the community was looking for answers, there was now a “very tight window of opportunity” to take action. He said:
“The goalposts have been changed yet again by the Home Office and I think it is absolutely regrettable and disgraceful the way this Home Office has treated the residents not just of Linton-on-Ouse but the wider community and this council and everybody who is an interested party in this. We need to get answers and we need to get them very quickly.”
Local member Cllr Nigel Knapton added:
“They are playing games with us and it is absolutely disgraceful.”