The increased capacity at Wethersfield camp, which is used as asylum accommodation, is yet another disgraceful example of the UK government’s commitment to the Hostile Environment. 

Despite previous promises of reform, the Labour government has continued the cruel policies of its predecessors, increasing the camp’s bed capacity instead of shutting it down. 

What is Wethersfield?

Wethersfield camp is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) airbase in Braintree, Essex, which was repurposed by the Home Office to warehouse single adult male asylum seekers in deeply unsuitable conditions. Initially set to operate for just 12 months, use of the site was extended for another three years in March 2024, despite fierce opposition from local communities and human rights organisations.

When Keir Starmer was leader of the Labour party in Opposition, he criticised the use of mass accommodation sites for asylum seekers, acknowledging their obvious failures and inhumanity. However, under his government, the Home Office has increased Wethersfield’s bed capacity instead of closing it. This betrayal highlights Labour’s unwillingness to dismantle the most basic structures of the Hostile Environment, despite rhetoric about a fairer asylum system. 

Braintree District Council challenged the use of Wethersfield Camp in the courts, arguing that its isolated location and lack of local infrastructure made it completely unsuitable. The High Court rejected the council’s legal challenge in April 2023, and subsequent appeals, including a judicial review, were dismissed by June 2023. Meanwhile, residents of the camp themselves have launched legal action against the Home Office, exposing the site’s degrading conditions and the severe harm caused to residents.

A shameful expansion

Initially, Wethersfield was set to accommodate 1,700 people, but following backlash, the government agreed to cap the population at 580. That limit was quietly lifted in February 2025, with the Home Office increasing capacity to 800 after the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed that conditions under the Special Development Order had been met. The intake of additional residents began on 10 February 2025.

This expansion is part of a broader pattern of dehumanising (and failed) asylum accommodation policies. The government has already been forced to abandon the use of RAF Scampton as an asylum accommodation site after public pressure and legal challenges. Meanwhile, the Bibby Stockholm prison barge—another grotesque symbol of the Hostile Environment—was emptied after repeated safety concerns and the tragic death of a resident, Leonard Farruku, on board. 

Yet, instead of learning from these failures, the government is doubling down on mass accommodation sites like Wethersfield.

Mental health crisis in detention-like conditions

The human cost of Wethersfield is undeniable. Reports from medical charities paint a devastating picture of the mental health crisis unfolding inside the camp. Over 400 incidents, including cases of self-harm and suicide attempts, have been recorded since the site became operational.

Doctors of the World (DOTW) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have reported that 74% of residents assessed at Wethersfield suffer from psychological distress. The combination of isolation, uncertainty, and institutionalised cruelty is worsening trauma rather than helping people recover. You can read their joint report here. 

Abolish Wethersfield, end the Hostile Environment

Wethersfield Camp should never have been opened, and it must be shut down immediately. The government’s pattern of housing asylum seekers in remote, unsafe, and prison-like conditions must end. The closure of RAF Scampton and the Bibby Stockholm barge prove that resistance works—now we must fight for Wethersfield’s abolition, too.

People seeking asylum must be treated with dignity and respect, not within a system that warehouses them in harmful mass accommodation sites.

What you can do 

• Contact your MP and demand the immediate closure of Wethersfield Camp.
• Support the organisations providing moral support and medical care to those housed at Wethersfield.
  • Humans for Rights Network and Care4Calais who provide support and gathered the crucial evidence used in legal challenges against the camp. 
  • Doctors of the World and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) who provide medical care to those housed at the camp.