Napier barracks, one of the first mass accommodation sites for asylum seekers in Kent, will remain open beyond its planned September closure due to a surge in small boat arrivals. The Home Office informed parliament in a March 2025 document that the site would be handed back to the Ministry of Defence in September, but numbers of residents have recently increased after declining to as few as 40.
The site, which can hold up to 328 male asylum seekers, is now receiving people soon after they arrive on the Kent coast. The extension is believed to be driven by a more than 50% increase in small boat arrivals compared to the same period last year, as well as pressure from anti-migrant protests outside asylum hotels.
Napier has been controversial since opening, with a mass Covid outbreak, poor facilities, and far-right protests. The Home Office lost at least £48 million on a similar scheme at RAF Scampton, which never housed asylum seekers. Meanwhile, numbers at Wethersfield in Essex have risen by over 50% to about 1,200.
NGOs working at Napier expressed disappointment. Sally Hough of Napier Drop-In Centre said funding due to run out in August would leave residents without essential support. Steve Smith of Care4Calais warned that large-scale militarised sites cause lasting trauma, especially as people arrive with nothing. A Home Office spokesperson said the government is working to reduce costs and end the use of asylum hotels by the end of this parliament.
