Veil of secrecy over barracks migrants plan

INVERNESS residents are facing a “wall of secrecy” over plans to house hundreds of migrants in the city, as the SNP government was urged to come clean on when it knew the plan would go ahead.

- BY DOUGLAS DICKIE

About 300 male asylum seekers will be placed in Cameron Barracks from the second week in December, with 60 arriving weekly.

The plan has sparked local outrage, with concerns about the impact on local services and public safety being raised.

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville is now under pressure to set out exactly when she was told the plan was going ahead.

She told Holyrood last week that, while the possibility was raised with her in September, she first became aware on October 28 after hearing the news on the radio. But it emerged on Tuesday that Highland Council was given verbal confirmation of the plan on October 10, more than two weeks earlier.

The Scottish Government said again yesterday that contact from the Home Office on September 17 was the last it heard before the story broke in the media.