Care4Calais CEO Steve Smith said: “The last government’s ‘large sites’ programme has been an unmitigated disaster.
“The waste of public money is eye-watering, but the human impact of those sites that did open is even more costly.
“That we have treated those seeking sanctuary from some of the world’s worst horrors in this shameful way marks a dark period in the UK’s history.”
One Life to Live founder Nicola David said: “This report is a very welcome, but truly damning indictment of the Home Office’s disregard for due process, public accountability and financial governance, let alone for humanitarian concerns.
“The Home Office has a culture of arrogance and heavy-handedness, and this must stop — for everyone’s sake.”
In another report, from the all-party parliamentary group on refugees, the government was urged to improve safe and legal routes for refugees to come to Britain.
It recommended strengthening family reunion and resettlement schemes and a pilot humanitarian visa scheme for people coming from Sudan and Eritrea.
The group also called on the government to commit to resettling at least 5,000 refugees annually, saying a 2019 pledge under the previous Conservative government to help the most vulnerable had never been met.
Group co-chairs Lord Alf Dubs and Labour MP Laura Kyrke-Smith said that safe and legal routes should be “combined with the current government’s enforcement measures and efforts to increase our search and rescue capabilities.
“The current processes are overly complex, restrictive and slow, causing, among many other things, prolonged separation of families at a time when they most need to be together.”
They highlighted a “stark difference” for those who came to Britain under the Ukraine schemes compared with much smaller numbers under those for Afghanistan.
Jon Featonby, chief policy analyst at the Refugee Council said: “This report lays bare yet another costly failure by the previous government, which wasted millions of pounds on an unsuitable site while failing to provide humane and appropriate accommodation for people seeking asylum.
”The Home Office at that time prioritised appearing tough on asylum over making well-planned, effective decisions — at the expense of both the public purse and the wellbeing of refugees.”
Sile Reynolds, Head of Asylum Advocacy at Freedom from Torture, said: “While it’s important to recognise the phenomenal waste of public money that is the Northeye accommodation site, it is the most vulnerable people who pay the price for this chaotic approach to asylum housing. The torture survivors we work with tell our clinicians about the retraumatising effects of places like Northeye – former prison or military sites that call to mind the facilities in which they were tortured. Serious health risks and cramped conditions only worsen despair, anxiety, and depression of people who’ve already suffered so much.
“Northeye may be gone, but until the Home Office learns the lessons from this scathing report, not least of all that it must listen to local stakeholders and experts, then it will continue to make the same mistakes. This Government has rightly indicated that it will stop using large sites, so the logical next step is to close Wethersfield, where so much harm has already been done to survivors of torture. Like any one of us, people seeking sanctuary need community-based housing that is safe and stable, so they can recover and rebuild their lives in peace.”
Sabby Dhalu, Stand Up To Racism Co-Convenor, said:"This report shows how the Home Office's rush to degrade the treatment of people seeking asylum has backfired. The cruel plan of housing desperate people in a prison has only meant huge waste for the taxpayer. The race to the bottom of the treatment of people seeking asylum must stop. Dignified accomodation for people described by this report as 'destitute', should not be controversial."
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.
