Linton migrant camp 'recipe for disaster' for women and girls, shadow minister says

But campaigners say it will overwhelm the village, which has nowhere near the facilities required to deal with as many people.

Ahead of a visit to the site to meet campaigners yesterday, the Conservative shadow Women’s and Equalities Minister Joy Morrisey told the Yorkshire Post she had received countless letters from concerned women living nearby the three proposed camps.

She said the case had echoes of the grooming gang scandal, where women voicing concerns were being ignored.

She said: “I don't want a situation where women and girls have raised these concerns, and we [collectively] do what happened with the grooming gangs, which is we just said ‘we don't want to hear it, you're being racist,’ and we just ignored it and ignored it.

“These men are primarily coming from places like Afghanistan, Sudan, Eritrea, places where sexual violence against women is used in both conflict and in everyday life.

“And in places like Afghanistan, women are treated worse than animals now. You can beat your wife, she can't go to the park, your dog has more rights than a woman does in Afghanistan now.

“These are not refugees like we had with Somalian refugees or Ukrainians. These are not families coming and escaping conflict, these are male migrants of a certain age coming illegally, on boats from countries where violence, and sexual violence against women and girls is just part of their culture.

“We keep having these incidents of male migrant men attacking women, raping women. I don't think the Home Office would have put out a ‘Don't rape women’ leaflet if they weren't concerned about the cultural nuances being missed here.”

In August, the Government published a nine-page leaflet instructing newly arrived migrants how to behave in the UK, including the line: “Don't rape, sexually assault or make kissing noises”.

Ms Morrissey continued: “These are not people who are coming to integrate into our culture. They've already broken the law coming here. These are not refugee families, and that's a very big difference. “I think if I don't feel comfortable with my daughter, why should I expect somebody else to have to put up with that? You know, do you know what I mean? Yeah, of course. It's, it's just the common decency of.

"For women it’s the issue of men just wandering the streets at night. Legitimately, I wouldn't want my daughter walking the streets, walking home, by herself.

“I think if I don't feel comfortable with my daughter, why should I expect somebody else to have to put up with that? It's just the common decency of it.”

The idea to house asylum seekers at Linton-on-Ouse was first put forward by the Conservatives in 2022, but later dropped by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, only to be resurrected by the Labour Government in 2026.

Asked whether the Conservatives were partly responsible, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, who also visited the site yesterday, told the Yorkshire Post: “Mistakes were made in the past, but we're now under new leadership and we've got a new plan.

“Our concerns are that accommodating over 1,000 young male illegal immigrants in a rural setting near a small village is completely inappropriate. The village will become overwhelmed.

“It raises all kinds of public safety concerns because the nationalities going there like Afghans, for example, have a very high propensity to commit crime, particularly sexual offences and rape against women and girls, and the data shows that very clearly."

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We recognise the strength of feeling in local communities and are listening carefully to the concerns being raised.

“The government is working on a fairer distribution of asylum accommodation across the country, with over £1 billion saved in costs since the election.

“This includes closing all asylum hotels and moving to alternative accommodation, including former military sites. These are designed to be self-contained, with 24/7 security and CCTV, to reduce the impact on local communities.”

Government guidance issued last month states the operator of the proposed site would enforce ‘clear expectations’ of the behaviour of those housed at the former RAF site.

It said: “Induction processes will be continuously updated by the service provider managing the site to reflect any feedback we receive from the local community or other stakeholders on behavioural issues.

"The site will be a strict “no alcohol zone”.

"If criminal activity occurs on site, the site’s service provider will have robust processes in place to report incidents of criminality to the police.

“Everyone entering or leaving site would be required to sign in and out at the front gate.”

It went on to say efforts will be made to mitigate the impact on the infrastructure of the area: “The site will provide functional accommodation and would be designed to be as self-sufficient as possible including laundry facilities and communal spaces.”