The Home Office has spent over ￡650,000 defending the use of RAF Wethersfield (Image: Joe Giddens/PA)
The Home Office has reportedly spent more than ￡650,000 of taxpayers' cash on legal fees defending the use of a former RAF base to house asylum seekers. RAF Wethersfield in Essex was converted into asylum seeker accommodation in 2023 as part of the Home Office's drive to reduce its reliance on hotels to house migrants crossing the Channel. However, the project has been plagued by controversy since it first opened.
Now, the Government is locked in a High Court challenge in a case brought forward by four asylum seekers. The Home Office’s legal costs hit ￡653,965 as of February 4, data obtained via a Freedom of Information request seen by the i Paper has revealed. This is nearly double the ￡350,000 figure spent in 2024. Around 700 asylum seekers are thought to currently live on site, with 100 more spaces expected to be made available as the Home Office boosts its capacity. Human rights organisations have likened the living situation to an “open-air prison camp", with many occupants suffering worsening mental health symptoms.
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Starmer has been slammed for keeping the site open (Image: Getty)
Read more 'Harrowing impact of asylum policy captured perfectly in Wethersfield debacle'
In the first three months of 2024, Home Office data revealed there were more than 160 safeguarding referrals made concerning men at risk of suicide and self-harm.
There were 30 recorded instances of men self-harming or attempting suicide, or at serious risk of doing so, a report by the Humans for Rights Network (HRN) revealed.
Meanwhile, there were 91 cases of men expressing that they were considering suicide or self-harm.
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Moussab, a client of HFRN who lived in Wethersfield, said: "I came here by Libya. In Libya I faced a lot of struggles. I was in prison, they tortured me, they beat me every night and day.
"Now I’m also a TB patient. I can’t sleep well. I sleep one hour a day because of this stress. I want this transfer so badly. I can’t even get medical assistance, I asked them every single day but they didn’t give me any table or solution to my problem."
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Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, told the i paper it was "alarming" that public money was being "wasted" defending the site as he blasted Labour for keeping it open.
Steve Smith, chief executive of Care4Calais, told the publication Labour had chosen to "defend the indefensible".
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously pledged to close the site in July, along with the infamous Bibby Stockholm barge and RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.
But the Labour leader has appeared to row back on that commitment as the party grapples with record levels of migrants crossing the Channel.
The Home Office has warned the small boat crisis is "spiralling out of control" and "getting worse". In fact, nearly 30,000 migrants have made the crossing since the party took power.
Former Home Secretary James Cleverly took aim at Labour (Image: Getty)
Senior Tories, including Priti Patel, have blasted the Prime Minister for "u-turning" on sites such as RAF Wethersfield as the crisis deepens.
The MP for the neighbouring constituency of Witham took aim at the Labour Governemnt for "working behind the scenes to expand them, while growing the use of hotels".
Meanwhile, former Home Secretary James Cleverly has said Labour's "failure to stop the boats or smash the gangs shouldn't be used as an excuse to cram people into Wethersfield."
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Earlier this month, the Daily Express revealed that migrants from at least 70 different countries crossed the English Channel last year.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “This government not only inherited an asylum system in chaos, but also inherited this legal challenge regarding the use of the Wethersfield site. It would not be appropriate to comment in detail while those legal proceedings are still ongoing, but we remain of the belief that the site provides fully adequate and functional accommodation for those asylum seekers who we have a legal obligation to support.
"More widely, it remains our determination to cut the unacceptably high costs of asylum accommodation to the British taxpayer, including ending the use of hotels over time, and our continued use of the Wethersfield site as a more cost-effective alternative to hotels remains an essential part of that strategy."