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Messages of support sent to Napier Barracks, following claims there is no heating or electricity at the site
15:49, 02 February 2021
updated: 15:51, 02 February 2021
'We stand in solidarity with you.'
This is the message being sent to the asylum seekers living in Napier Barracks in Folkestone by volunteers and friends of charity Care4Calais.
Photos posted by the organisation on social media show supporters holding signs reading 'We stand with you' and 'Napier we are watching'.
The messages follow a difficult few weeks at the military camp, which is being used by the Home Office to temporarily accommodate people seeking asylum in the UK.
Around 400 men are currently living at the Ministry of Defence site.
But it was hit by an outbreak of Covid-19 in January - the second at the centre - and more than 100 service users are reported to have tested positive.
Some guests have taken to sleeping outside and going on hunger strike in order to get the Home Office's attention over the alleged dire living conditions.
It all came to a head on Friday, when a protest inside the camp led to a huge fire and other damage caused to the barracks.
No one was seriously hurt, but 14 men were arrested as a result, and one has since been charged. Police are treating it as suspected arson.
Care4Calais claim that since Friday, there has been no heating or electricity at the camp. The Home Office denies this.
The charity posted: "The residents of Napier Barracks have been without adequate healthcare, mental health support and Covid safety for months.
"Over the last two days since the fire in one of the buildings they have also been without heating, electricity and communication of any kind from those who should care for them."
The charity added its volunteers tried to deliver blankets to the camp, but they were turned away: "It’s midwinter and we have been told over 100 people are sick with Covid, and there is no doctor on site. They have no hot water to make tea or wash.
"Our volunteers took blankets to the site following pleas from the men, but these were refused at the gate. In a disturbing incident, there was also an attempt to stop an ambulance attending a sick Covid patient.
"It is essential that steps are taken to urgently review management of the site and provide appropriate care for those who are trapped inside in terrible conditions."
A Home Office spokesman said of these claims: "These reports are untrue. The Home Office is meeting all of it statutory obligations to meet the needs of asylum seekers."
Now 'happier' messages are being shared from all over the UK to the service users - including from 83 year old Catherine.
A post from Care4Calais explained: "The last few weeks have been hard for residents of Napier Barracks but yesterday, for the first time, we got some happier messages from them - thanks to you!
"Individually, with family and friends, and in groups, supporters from across the UK are sending solidarity messages. The crew of the Iuventa who went to sea to save thousands of lives in the Mediterranean; our friends at Radio Calais; Newham and Hackney Stand Up To Racism; Extinction Rebellion in Brighton and York, and many more.
"But the one the guys at Napier love the most? Their reaction to the picture of Catherine, aged 83, with the blanket on her knee, was one of overwhelming love and respect.
"They don’t know it but she emigrated to the UK from Ireland herself and worked all her life as a nurse in the NHS.
"She's always looked out for vulnerable people and led a series of protests in the 70s, including a sit in lasting several weeks to keep hospitals open in the London borough of Hounslow."
As well as the fire, police are also investigating criminal damage at Napier on Thursday after anonymous activists threw fake blood at the gates in a call for the site to be closed.
Two people have been arrested following this demonstration, but officers are seeking two more people. Read more here.
