Over 100 charities and leaders from the refugee rights sector have written to Rishi Sunak demanding he u-turns on plans announced last week to open centres in former and serving military bases, including Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire.

They cited the Home Office’s previous failure to open a similar processing centre at the former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse near York last year.

Those proposals led to a months long campaign from the community and local politicians which culminated in Defence Secretary Ben Wallace withdrawing the site from the Home Office.

Undated handout photo issued by Bibby Marine Ltd of the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge, a 222 bedroom, three-storey vessel, which can house up to 506 people. The Home Office has confirmed it has leased a barge to accommodate around 500 migrants in Portland, Dorset. Issue date: Wednesday April 5, 2023.

It comes as the Home Office confirmed it has commandeered a barge off the Dorset coast to house 500 single male asylum seekers.

One North Yorkshire based campaigner warned housing on the barge could lead to disease and is "little more than warehousing."

An open letter sent to Mr Sunak on Thursday and led by Asylum Matters reads: “The sites at Wethersfield, Scampton, Bexhill and Catterick are deeply unsuitable, as was the planned site at Linton-on-Ouse.

“The proposals for the use of ferries and barges are risible and should not even be under consideration. If these sites are allowed to go ahead, people seeking safety will find themselves isolated in prison-like conditions without adequate advice, healthcare, or support.

“These facilities will segregate and re-traumatise people, and are being planned with no consideration of either the needs of people seeking asylum or local communities. The complete lack of prior consultation with the communities where these sites are planned is inexcusable and emblematic of the Home Office’s wider approach.

“We urge you to listen to common sense and change course now, before you create an entirely preventable humanitarian catastrophe.”

Nicola David, chair of Ripon City of Sanctuary who signed the letter, said: “While we completely support the idea of ending the madness of spending this much money on hotels, the point is that the government is actually punishing the asylum seekers rather than actually fixing the problem that put them there, which is the backlog of 166,000 cases.

“We know from people who contact us that they’re very concerned about the refugees. We know people care. We’re a Conservative county, and every MP has been really welcoming to refugees, they’ve been fantastic.

“We’re even seeing Tory cabinet ministers like James Cleverley coming out to say ‘it’s the wrong thing to do.’”

Other signatories of the letter include South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group and Trustees and West Yorkshire Destitute Asylum Network.

Few details have been released about plans to house asylum seekers in Catterick Garrison by the Home Office, which is in Mr Sunak’s constituency of Richmond. Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said in the House of Commons last week that the Garrison had been chosen by Mr Sunak to “show leadership” on asylum matters.

Plans for the housing barge will see “Basic and functional accommodation” on the three-storey Bibby Stockholm along with 24/7 security under Government plans to reduce the costly reliance on hotels.

The Home Office has not set out the cost of the lease agreement for the vessel that will be docked at Portland Port, but estimates have put the overall price tag of the charter and the berthing at more than £20,000 a day.

The Home Office was approached for comment.

Asylum processing centres could cause humanitarian crisis, campaigners warn, as barge plans confirmed