A group of migrants from the Chagos Islands has refused to leave a temporary rest centre set up by Crawley Borough Council.
More than 70 people who arrived at Gatwick Airport from Mauritius were assessed by the council early in June, with 37 left with nowhere to stay and no right to emergency accommodation.
The council opened a rest centre for the group, first at K2 leisure centre and then at Northgate Community Centre.
They were supposed to leave the centre last week but are still living there.
The centre is used as a polling station and, as a result of the stalemate, the council has had to find a last-minute replacement for this week’s General Election vote.
A council spokesman said:
“Despite the council bringing the rest centre provision to an end, those staying there have chosen to remain.
“We will be responding carefully but appropriately over the coming days, but won’t be making any further comment.
“Given the timing, we had no choice but to move the polling station for Thursday’s General Election a short distance to St Elizabeth’s Church.
“All registered voters affected have been written to and will be written to again ahead of the election.
“There will also be clear signage about the change on the day.”
A second group of people is living in tents on a former car park outside the old Town Hall, in The Boulevard.
The council spokesman added:
“The group in front of the old Town Hall is separate to those in the Northgate Community Centre, but does include other Chagossians.
“They were moved there to prevent any obstruction to residents seeking to access the Town Hall.
“Likewise the council is considering its options and will not be commenting further.”
The Chagossians are UK citizens, having obtained UK passports via the Chagossian British Overseas Territories Citizenship scheme.
Government guidance for Chagossians moving to the UK is they should make accommodation arrangements before travelling.
Council leader Michael Jones has written to the government warning that the authority can no longer help as it had ‘exhausted the council’s resources in addressing this emergency’.
The council declared a housing emergency in February.
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