Home Office staff ‘refusing minister’s order’ to paint over Mickey Mouse art for children at asylum centre
Staff at an asylum reception centre are “avoiding” orders to paint over wall art of Disney cartoons that were designed to welcome child migrants, sources have told i.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told staff to paint over the art as he visited the Kent asylum intake unit earlier this year, it has been claimed.
i was told it was felt the art gave the impression that the UK was “welcoming” to asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats.
But insiders claim that staff at the unit have so far failed to paint over the wall art, which is understood to include depictions of popular Disney characters including Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Baloo from the Jungle Book.
Workers at the centre were “horrified” about the “cruel” order handed down by Mr Jenrick and were trying to think of ways to “avoid” it, i was told.
On the same visit, which took place in April or earlier this year, the minister was said to have urged workers to take down welcome signs with colourful branding, to make clear the centre was a “law enforcement environment” and “not a welcome centre”.
The Government was unable to say whether Rishi Sunak agreed with his ally Mr Jenrick, or if the minister would be pressing staff at the unit to carry out his orders.
Labour, meanwhile, said Mr Jenrick’s actions were “putting Britain to shame” and showed the Government had “lost any sense of common decency or humanity in the way they treat vulnerable children” in their drive to meet a pledge to “stop the boats”.
Asked whether the Prime Minister agreed with Mr Jenrick, Mr Sunak’s press secretary told reporters on Wednesday: “That’s not something the Prime Minister has expressed a view on to me, so I wouldn’t want to comment specifically.
“But I think more broadly on the position that we currently have of ensuring that we have appropriate housing for illegal migrants and cutting down the cost to the taxpayer is the right approach.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman, meanwhile, insisted the Government’s controversial asylum plans were “fair and compassionate” because they would stop the “cruel cycle of vulnerable people being exploited by criminal gangs”.
But Steve Smith, chief executive of charity Care4Calais, said: “We’ve become accustomed to nasty and immoral policies being waged against refugees by this Government, but what sort of person deliberately makes conditions less welcoming and life more difficult for traumatised children?
“This reveals a lot about Robert Jenrick’s personal character, but it also goes some way to explaining the sinister nature of the Government’s anti-refugee rhetoric.”
It came as Conservative MPs Sir Edward Leigh and Richard Drax again criticised the Government for their plans to house asylum seekers.
Mr Drax claimed plans to house people on the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland Port in his Dorset constituency “at the height of summer” was “not in the national interest, nor in ours”.
Sir Edward meanwhile suggested Home Office plans to house 2,000 asylum seekers at RAF Scampton in his Lincolnshire seat could mean the air force being forced to move the grave of a pilot’s dog “that has lain in peace for 80 years”.
The Home Office responded to the fresh revelations about the Kent intake unit with the same statement as it did to the initial reports.
It did not directly address the claims staff are refusing to carry out Mr Jenrick’s order.
A spokeswoman said: “We do all we can to ensure children are safe, secure and supported as we urgently seek placements with a local authority.
“All children receive a welfare interview on their arrival at accommodation, which includes questions designed to identify potential indicators of trafficking or safeguarding issues.
“Our priority is to stop the boats and disrupt the people smugglers.
“The Government has gone further by introducing legislation which will ensure that those people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.”
