It’s not a critique of past practices, it’s a plan for future applications, with some references to experiences from information collected from refugee camps in the past. That’s what the footnotes are, like always, references. Some, but not all, of the references are from refugee camp experiences. You even conveniently left out the preceding paragraph, which contains this phrase:
“The shielding approach is an ambitious undertaking, which may prove effective in preventing COVID-19 infection among high-risk populations if well managed. While the premise is based on mitigation strategies used in the United Kingdom“
“May prove effective” is not a reference to the past, and where are the refugee camps in the United Kingdom?
You could have just said “yes.”