by Bethany Rielly

THE Home Office insisted today that its decision to dump asylum-seekers in squalid and overcrowded army barracks during the pandemic was “reasonable” despite acknowledging higher risks of infection. 

Six asylum-seekers have brought a legal challenge against the department, arguing that its decision to house them in Napier Barracks in Kent was unlawful. 

The claimants say that they were put at “exceptionally high risk” of catching Covid-19 at the site, where crowded and communal sleeping and eating arrangements resulted in a huge outbreak earlier this year.