THE new Home Secretary should resist any temptation to “outflank” right-wing opposition parties by adopting “cruel” immigration policies, campaigners said today.

Their warning followed reports indicating that Shabana Mahmood is preparing to unveil plans to move asylum-seekers from hotels into military barracks.

The newly appointed Home Secretary is expected to announce the use of Ministry of Defence sites to house people after a wave of protests outside migrant accommodation over the summer.

Dozens of hotels used to shelter asylum-seekers are expected to close following a wave of far-right demonstrations in recent months.

Ministers are also understood to be nearing a returns agreement with Germany, after already striking a deal with France, according to the Daily Telegraph.

One government source said “nothing is off the table” for Ms Mahmood as she assumes her new brief, which puts her in charge of borders and asylum policy.

She has previously signalled a willingness to look at human rights reform within domestic law.

But Freedom from Torture chief executive Sonya Sceats said that “no matter who we are or where we come from, everyone deserves to live in safety.”

She pointed out: “Many survivors in therapy with us were tortured in military settings and to house them this way in the UK carries a serious risk of reopening deep psychological wounds and disrupting the often already long and difficult road to recovery.

“Caring people are growing increasingly alarmed by the race to the bottom from British politicians seeking to outdo each other in inhumanity towards refugees.

“The new Home Secretary should resist any temptation to try and outflank opposition parties by inflicting this sort of cruelty on men, women and children who have already suffered so much.

“It will inevitably cause harm and further political headaches for the government.”

With a backlog of asylum cases causing accommodation pressures, Ms Sceats said that the smart move for Ms Mahmood would be to “double down on the government’s efforts to improve the speed and accuracy of asylum decisions, so that people trying to recover from torture and persecution can pass through the system more quickly and rebuild their lives in our communities.”

Migrant Voice director Nazek Ramadan said: “Among the promises made by this government before it came to power was to reduce the use of camps and ensure people seeking asylum were treated humanely.

“This decision is a slap in the face to those promises. Camps have already been shown, repeatedly, to be inhumane, cause significant additional harm to many of the already traumatized individuals, who came to this country seeking safety.

“This government must stop the dehumanising treating of those seeking asylum, and close down camps, rather than expanding their use.

“We need a system which invests in community support schemes to help everyone. Not one which warehouses people fleeing war and persecution in entirely unsuitable conditions.”