Illegal Migrants Unhappy with Free Accommodation in ‘Racist’ UK Want to Return to EU

FOLKESTONE, ENGLAND - JANUARY 30: Asylum Seekers are seen at Napier Barracks following a f
Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

A group of asylum seekers said that they will leave the United Kingdom to go back to the EU, complaining about the supposed racism of being provided with free taxpayer-funded accommodation at former British Army barracks.

In the wake of record-breaking illegal boat migration from France across the English Channel, the Home Office was forced to house some migrants in two former military barracks, one in Wales and the other in Folkestone, Kent.

Following weeks of protests at the Napier Barracks in Kent, culminating in a group of asylum seekers allegedly setting fire to the facility, migrants have complained to the media about the supposedly poor conditions in the camp — which used to be home to uncomplaining British soldiers.

Speaking to the left-wing Independent website, a migrant from Syria said that he has been trying to escape the United Kingdom to Continental Europe on a lorry, claiming he is “not being treated like a human being” by the British government.

“The Home Office is making an effort to make people hate asylum seekers. I cannot stay in this country when the government is pushing people to treat us in this way. I think a lot of others will do the same thing and leave the UK,” the migrant said.

“The journey back is totally dangerous. There are just centimetres between the lorry and the ground. I could lose my arm, leg or my life. But in the UK I am losing my dignity.”

The 22-year-old migrant, who claimed that he initially fled Syria after for fear of being recruited by the Kurdish military, said that he came to Britain because he spoke “some English” and wanted to study aviation.

He went on to accuse the United Kingdom of being a racist country, saying: “I used to think there was no distinction here between a Muslim and a Christian, between black and white. But I realise there is.”

Another Syrian asylum seeker, a 49-year-old man, said that he illegally entered the United Kingdom in July of last year after paying a smuggler 1,000 euros to help him cross the English Channel from France.

The illegal migrant said that he is also planning on trying to get back to the EU, saying: “I did not expect that they would put me in this camp. I am fleeing war. My nerves are tired. Is this a punishment for us? Why is this happening? I want to rest, but it feels like we are being punished. It is inhumane.”

As to where he would prefer to live in Europe, the migrant said: “I will talk to my friends who have homes in other European counties. They were not put into military camps.”

“In Syria, everything is gone. My home was destroyed. I want to feel that I am a human being. I want dignity and freedom. I am looking for safety. I came here because I thought there was no racism in the UK, and that it was a country that protects people’s human rights,” he claimed.

Following the arson at the Napier Barracks, Brexit leader Nigel Farage said that the British public is “sick to the back teeth” of shelling out “billions and billions” on illegal immigration for migrants who expect “four-star hotel” accommodations.

Many migrants, some of them lethally violent, were and are accommodated in hotels at the taxpayers’ expense; a phenomenon which Mr Farage helped to expose.

Commenting on the complaints from migrants about the conditions in the camp, Farage said: “At the Napier Barracks they’ve got safe accommodation, a bed, three square meals a day and the freedom to more or less come and go as they please.”

“I’m sure there are homeless ex-army veterans who would quite like to be looked after like that, but it’s not been good enough for these people,” he added.

In 2020, over 8,400 illegal migrants crossed the English Channel from France, officially — over four times as many as came the prior year.

The Brexit leader predicted thousands more will continue to pour into the country “as soon as the weather gets warmer”, noting that since leaving the EU the UK has not secured any arrangement to deport illegal migrants or failed asylum seekers back to Europe.

While the Boris Johnson administration and Home Secretary Priti Patel had indicated that they would finally resolve the Channel crisis at the end of the 2020 Brexit “transition”, they still appear unwilling to discuss simply taking a unilateral decision to turn illegal migrant boats back at sea, as happens in Australia, for example.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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