UK Home Office facing legal action over ‘cruel’ asylum seeker accommodation plans

As of December, the British Government was housing 61,327 asylum seekers compared with around 47,000 a year earlier, according to the UK Home Office, which says it needs to find more accommodation in order to meet its legal obligations. Picture: Sean Dempsey/PA

The British Home Office has been threatened with legal action after being accused of trying to build a “prison-style” camp for asylum seekers while their claims are being considered.

The department wants to build temporary accommodation for around 200 asylum seekers next to Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in Bedford, England in a move branded “cruel” and “inhuman” by critics.