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Photos Show Former Prison In Bexhill Where Asylum Seekers Could Be Placed

Photos by Eddie Mitchell

A Sussex photographer has taken photos and drone footage of Northeye, a former prison on private land in Bexhill, where the Government is proposing to place asylum seekers.

It's one of three places, alongside barracks at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and RAF Wethersfield in Essex, that the Government has earmarked for people seeking asylum in the UK.

Since Robert Jenrick MP announced plans in parliament, local MPs have threatened to take legal action to stop the proposals, citing reasons such as the impact on services.

The Government wants to move away from housing migrants in hotels, which they say is costing £6.8m per day.

But many are saying that the sites are not fit for purpose and work needed to make them suitable would also cost a huge amount of taxpayers money.

Speaking to Sky News, Education Secretary and MP for Chichester Gillian Keegan, said she couldn't yet give a date for when the sites would be ready, but that they would be "safe, decent and clean".

Transport minister Huw Merriman said that voters in his Bexhill constituency would have "great concern" about the plans.

The site is expected to need a considerable amount of work to make it suitable for up to the 1,200 people the Home Office intends to house there.

"I know that this decision will have an impact on local authorities and public services. It will also be of great concern to local residents," Mr Merriman said.

The Government is being accused of failing in its attempt to find a solution to the issue and being unable to get a grip on its own immigration system.

 

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