EXCLUSIVE: Groups of male asylum seekers at RAF Wethersfield were filmed singing and dancing in a common room complete with a disco ball and glittering lights.
Migrants partying and fighting inside a military base “lay bare the reality behind our asylum system”, ministers have been told.
Groups of male asylum seekers were filmed singing and dancing in a common room at RAF Wethersfield in Essex, complete with a disco ball and glittering lights.
Music blared from a nearby speaker as security guards sat idly by, filming the frivolities.
And another clip showed chaotic scenes inside the former military base, with a migrant vaulting a dividing wall and confronting someone. He was seen trying to pick up a plastic tray, before being held back as he attempted to hit someone.
The video has emerged just 24 hours after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans for the toughest asylum crackdown in years.
The footage is believed to have been filmed just before Labour took power in July last year but has only just been released.
Robert Bates, Research Director at the Centre for Migration Control said: “These videos lay bare the reality behind our asylum system.
“Whilst open border advocates present it as helping the world’s weary and needy, in reality, the taxpayer is being forced to pay exorbitant amounts to fund parties for young men who have broken into our country.
“The violence on display is further proof, if it was needed, that we are dealing with men who are, in some cases, volatile and a potential danger to members of the public.
“These scenes should not be happening, especially at the time when many hard-working Brits are being required to cut back and is further proof that we must simply detain those who have entered illegally. Public safety requires it.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Daily Express: “Illegal immigrants who claim asylum should not be getting housed in cushty surroundings.
“Under new leadership, the Conservative policy will come out of the ECHR so all illegal immigrants can be removed within a week of arrival.
“Then they won’t be getting accommodated anywhere.”
Alp Mehmet, Chairman of Migration Watch, said: “Instead of floating future policies, which are unlikely to see the light of day, the Home Secretary could do something about the holiday camp environment in which asylum seekers await the outcome of their applications.
“The goings-on at Wethersfield not only shout come on over but also shine a light on the soft touch we’ve become.”
Shocking Home Office documents – seen by the Daily Express – reveal asylum seekers at the former military base are offered sports, “including cricket, football, tennis and badminton” three times a week.
Migrants partying in Wethersfield (Image: Stop Wethersfield Buses)
The letter, from Border Security Minister Alex Norris, adds: “These activities add to their schedule of initiatives already facilitated weekly onsite, including art, music and English language lessons and the use of the classroom, a barber facility, snooker room, gym and recreational areas. There are also areas for board games, cards, chess and dominoes.”
But videos, obtained by the Daily Express, show groups of men dancing as music blared out during the party.
Others huddled round two nearby pool tables.
Another alarming clip shows a group of asylum seekers fighting, with one even threatening to hit a member of staff with a plastic tray.
Migrants brawling in a migrant camp in Essex (Image: Stop Wethersfield Buses)
Tensions boiled over inside RAF Wethersfield (Image: Stop Wethersfield Buses)
The videos will reignite calls for illegal migrants to be detained in more stringent conditions.
Asylum seekers in Wethersfield can also catch a bus which runs three times a day, 365 days a year, to Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester.
The Home Office has confirmed it will increase the number of asylum seekers accommodated at the base by more than 50%.
Another 445 men are set to join the 800 already housed there.
Labour wants to ramp up the use of military bases for asylum seekers to close asylum hotels.
Around 32,000 migrants are currently living in taxpayer-funded rooms.
But the Express has revealed how many migrants can be housed in each region.
Some 13,486 people are supposed to be living in dispersal accommodation – houses, flats and bedsits – in North West England.
But Home Office records show 17,218 are living in taxpayer-funded homes in towns and cities across the region and officials still need to find homes for 1,809 people.
By contrast, asylum accommodation providers are hunting for space for 12,032 migrants in South-East England. But 3,118 are already living there and the plan only allows for 14,092.
Another 12,206 need to be accommodated in London, the document sent to the Home Affairs Select Committee revealed.
Dispersal accommodation costs £23.25 per person per night, according to Home Office documents seen by the Sunday Express. Hotels cost a staggering £144.98 per person per night. Accommodation at the former military base in Wethersfield, Essex, costs £132 per person per night.
Five of the 12 regions are yet to hit 50% of their targets on moving people into dispersal accommodation.
Yet the Home Office is so overwhelmed nationally that it is facing a shortfall of almost 20,000 beds for asylum seekers.
The Service User Demand Plans allocated 114,791 spaces for asylum seekers across the country.
Some 68,151 have already been housed, with another 66,021 waiting for accommodation. The North East of England and the North West have both surged past their targets but need to find additional homes for 2,000 people between them.
The West Midlands will almost certainly soar over its planned amount, with 10,944 supposed to be housed in the region. But 9,086 are already living there and 4,930 more are waiting in the wings.
