High Court agrees to hear claim that airfield asylum accommodation risks human rights breach

The High Court has agreed to hear a judicial review challenge brought by asylum seekers living at RAF Wethersfield who claim the Home Secretary failed to provide a dignified standard of living accommodation.

The four asylum seekers behind the claim challenge the use of RAF Wethersfield on six grounds, including a claim that the conditions and regime at the former airfield is discriminatory and creates a real risk of a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

It is also argued that the Home Office has failed to protect asylum seekers from racial violence and harassment.

The Home Secretary began accommodating asylum seekers at the repurposed site on 12 July 2023.

Up to 1,700 asylum seekers are planned to be moved to RAF Wethersfield, and the site will be used for three years under the plans.

The law firm representing two of the claimants, Deighton Pierce Glynn, said the asylum seekers have presented evidence that the Home Office have accommodated vulnerable individuals at the site.

The claimants argue that the Home Secretary failed to operate an adequate screening and allocation system to properly identify individuals who are unsuitable to be accommodated at a military site and that there is no effective procedure in place for ongoing monitoring once asylum seekers are transferred to Wethersfield.

Law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn is representing two of the claimants. While Gold Jennings Solicitors acts for one other claimant, and Duncan Lewis acts for a fourth claimant.

The Home Office has faced a number of legal challenges over its use of disused airfields to accommodate asylum seekers.

In December 2023, the High Court dismissed a challenge brought against the department by West Lindsey District Council over the use of permitted development rights to accommodate asylum seekers on RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

West Lindsey's claim was heard alongside two other claims from Braintree District Council and a local Braintree resident over the Home Office's use of Wethersfield Airfield for asylum accommodation, as they raised similar legal arguments.

Braintree has also sought an injunction blocking the Home Office from using the site for asylum seeker accommodation but was unsuccessful at the High Court and on appeal.

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

Adam Carey