Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is offering thrice weekly clinics to people contained by the Home Office at Wethersfield in Essex.
It is the first time MSF, which is known for its work in Gaza, South Sudan and Syria, has offered medical relief specifically for people seeking asylum in the UK.
The organisation, which was founded in France, said it decided to do so because of the "medical-related harms" that emerge in "large-scale containment sites" such as Wethersfield.
The move will cause some discomfort for the home secretary, whose department has previously insisted that Wethersfield - which is situated in his Braintree constituency - is a safe place for asylum seekers, despite reports of scabies, TB, mental health problems and violence among people living there.
Javid Abdelmoneim, an operational project manager for MSF, said that it had set up the clinic in a joint project with Doctors Of The World because of the health problems seen at similar sites in Greece.
This story is from the January 09, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the January 09, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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