MSF responds to High Court judgement on Wethersfield asylum site

The High Court has today ruled on the use of RAF Wethersfield as asylum accommodation, handing down the judgement that a former Home Secretary acted unlawfully in placing three vulnerable individuals at the site.

"Today the ruling for the High Court challenge to the Secretary of State for the Home Department’s use of RAF Wethersfield site as asylum accommodation was handed down. 

The High Court of Justice found the then Home Secretary Suella Braverman acted unlawfully in accommodating three vulnerable asylum seekers at the site. These individuals have experienced trafficking, torture and/or serious physical violence and suffered a serious decline in their mental health as a result of living at Wethersfield.

This High Court ruling adds to evidence and reports from several humanitarian and nongovernmental organisations as well as government-appointed officials who have highlighted the harms of this site. 

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Doctors of the World (DOTW) medical teams working at the Wethersfield site, and in similar settings around the world, have witnessed the serious mental health harm caused by containment sites. 

Between October 2023 and December 2024, 62 percent of our patients presented with severe mental distress and 30 percent with suicidal ideation.

Many of the men accessing our service are unsuitable to be accommodated here and have experienced torture, violence, detention, persecution and other ill-treatment before arriving in the UK. The conditions on the site can be traumatising and exacerbate mental health issues. 

We remain deeply concerned about the conditions for men held at RAF Wethersfield. The UK Government must urgently close Wethersfield and end the policy of mass containment to accommodate people seeking safety."