The Government is planning to house asylum seekers in several \u2018camps\u2019 without electricity, running water or healthcare, according to a Tory former immigration minister.<\/p>\n
Caroline Nokes told MPs the Home Office\u2019s plans are set to come into force straight after the end of the Brexit transition deadline on January 1. She warned that instead of deterring people traffickers, the plans have \u2018far reaching complications\u2019 and will \u2018create a separate tier of asylum seeker\u2019. Ms Nokes said such asylum seekers will not have their claim considered and the Home Office \u2018will seek to return\u2019 them to their native country \u2013 but \u2018with no mechanism yet to do so\u2019. ADVERTISEMENT Top articles by Metro People with disabilities struggling to get supermarket delivery for Christmas READ MORE READ MORE READ MORE READ MORE READ MORE SKIP AD The debate came three months after the Home Office began housing migrants in military barracks in Kent, where protests broke out last month over the poor, cramped conditions inside. Home Office minister Chris Philp argued the latest accommodation plans are \u2018reasonable\u2019 and \u2018good\u2019. Caroline Nokes MP warns reforms will create ‘a separate tier of asylum seeker’ Play Video Loaded: 0% 0:00Progress: 0% PlayMute Current Time0:00 \/ Duration Time5:06 Fullscreen Ms Nokes said Mr Philp\u2019s plans to house people in camps with no water come at a time when \u2018hygiene is critical\u2019 and accused him of attempting to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny over the issue. Speaking in the Commons, she said: \u2018They will be housed in camps\u2026 with no mains electricity, nor mains water. \u2018He has just 10 working days before they come into force, and will the permitted development powers he intends to use to create several of these camps be extended by statutory instrument like these rules, avoiding parliamentary scrutiny?\u2019 She added: \u2018Does he think the changes might in fact see an increase to the asylum application backlog? \u2018I ask the minister, does he have a strategic plan or does he hope housing people on sites where he admits he will not provide healthcare will just act as a deterrent?\u2019 Protests were held last month over the treatment of migrants in the barracks (Picture: PA) Mr Philp responded: \u2018I would say the accommodation we provide is reasonable, is good. There are 60,000 people currently being accommodated.\u2019 He commented on the Government\u2019s plans to \u2018fix\u2019 the asylum system once the UK leaves the EU and is no longer bound by the Dublin Regulation. The 2003 law determines which member state is responsible for an asylum claim \u2013 usually falling on the first country they entered in the EU. Mr Philp said the UK does need to deter Channel crossings and make sure that its legal process \u2018works effectively\u2019, noting \u2018very often it does not do so\u2019. Around 400 asylum seekers are being held in the Napier Army Barracks (Picture: Getty) He said the Government had a \u2018proud record\u2019 of helping those in need, adding: \u2018The purpose of these changes are to prepare us for a life after Dublin. \u2018It\u2019s quite right that we make those preparations but at the heart of this is a desire to dissuade people, indeed prevent people from making unnecessary and dangerous journeys. \u2018In particular across the English Channel, endangering their own lives, feeding ruthless criminal people smugglers and all for no purpose because France is a safe country, where asylum can easily be claimed, as are the other European countries these migrants have travelled through.\u2019 Shadow Home Office minister Holly Lynch said the changes are being introduced \u2018by the back door\u2019 and give no opportunity for proper scrutiny in Parliament. But Conservative former minister Sir Edward Leigh argued the reason why migrants make the Channel crossing is because \u2018they know that our present asylum laws are a complete joke\u2019. Caroline Nokes accused the Home Office minister of attempting to push through the plans without parliamentary scrutiny (Picture: EPA) \u2018That if you make it half way across the Channel, the chance of ever being deported are virtually nil because of the activities of so-called human rights lawyers who are actually putting lives at risk by their shenanigans in the law courts,\u2019 he added. \u2018What we want to have from the minister is an absolute firm commitment that as from January 1, if you cross the Channel it is obvious you are coming from a safe country, you will be immediately returned. That\u2019s what we want to know.\u2019<\/p>\n
AmNews\/News Agencies.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Government is planning to house asylum seekers in several \u2018camps\u2019 without electricity, running water or healthcare, according to a Tory former immigration minister. Caroline Nokes told MPs the Home Office\u2019s plans are set to come into force straight after the end of the Brexit transition deadline on January 1. She warned that instead of<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_1160854738579181570_1160854738579181570":"","facebook_3558452337540614_100649324928663":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-news","8":"category-world-news"},"yoast_head":"\n