Cameron Barracks: Asylum seekers 'not mass murderers and rapists', Highlanders told

A special meeting of Highland Council was called on Thursday afternoon where councillors blasted Home Office “secrecy” over proposals to house 300 male asylum seekers at Cameron Barracks in Inverness.

Councillors said the local authority had been “disrespected” by the Home Office, with claims members had been kept in the dark on what exactly would happen.

Lib Dem councillor Alasdair Christie said: “In over 30 collective years as a councillor, I have never seen a situation where central government has actually kept a local authority in the dark so much.”

SNP councillor Lyndsey Johnston added: “The lack of respect for this body makes it almost impossible to be a productive partner.

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“Worries and fears in the community are bred by a lack of information, so the best thing the Home Office can do is give us fair information.”

Labour’s Councillor Andrew Mackintosh said: “There is an island of measured sanity in a sea of misinformation and abuse that we have seen on social media. I am not going to defend the location - I know Cameron Barracks better than most and it’s unsuitable.

“A lot of the concerns are due to a lack of information from the UK government and Holyrood’s obsession with secrecy. If you want any information, you have to tear out your fingernails first to get it. The lack of respect is really important.”

He claimed fears and worries amongst Highlanders were being spread by those who “seek party political advantage” and was partly due to the lack of clarity and detail from the Home Office.

Cllr Mackintosh said: “Don’t be fooled by the responses you see on social media. Unsavoury comments only represent the loudest, not the majority.

“It is wrong to say that the army coming in [to the barracks previously] were all saints and it is wrong to say these refugees are all sinners - they are people. I can assure everyone it is not 300 mass murderers and rapists.

“I do not give any credence to the suggestion that asylum seekers are populated by a group of wrongdoers. There are community concerns whipped up with other political issues and our job is to allay these fears and the silence from the government is not helpful.”

Highland Council will now write to UK home secretary Shabana Mahmood “seeking urgent clarity on the precise detail of the implementation plan for this proposed scheme”. Councillors backed this proposal by 44 votes to 18.

An amendment that called for the plans to be immediately halted was voted down by councillors.

Conservative councillor Isabelle Mackenzie said: “Residents have contacted me not with hostility, but with concerns. Parents are worried about their daughters walking to school or to work. These are real fears that must not be dismissed.

“There are also serious concerns about site security as there is a wooded area they have access to. Residents are asking if there is fencing and proper security to prevent unauthorised movement through these paths.

“These simple questions remain unanswered. This is a safe, neighbourly part of Inverness and that sense of security must not be compromised by decisions made without transparency or planning.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We are furious at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels.

“This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well underway, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities across the country.

“We are working closely with local authorities, property partners and across government so that we can accelerate delivery.”