Hundreds of asylum seekers to be moved to two UK military sites | Immigration and asylum
Hundreds of people seeking asylum in the UK will be moved to military zones as the government aims to end the use of hotels for accommodation.
The Home Office confirmed that two barracks – Cameron barracks in Inverness and Crowborough training camp in East Sussex – will temporarily house around 900 men. Authorities are working to identify more sites.
These two areas were used to relocate Afghan families evacuated during the withdrawal from Kabul in 2021. This study ended earlier this year.
A parliamentary committee on Monday described the use of asylum hotels as “unsuccessful, chaotic and expensive”.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We are outraged at the level of illegal immigrants and asylum hotels. This government will close all asylum hotels. Work is well underway, with more suitable venues being put forward to ease pressure on communities and reduce asylum costs.”
Options considered include military and industrial sites, temporary facilities and unused accommodation. According to the Times, the Ministry of Internal Affairs believes that up to 10,000 people could be accommodated on military grounds, some of which could also include some prefabricated structures.
Defense minister Luke Pollard said the first two sites were being used as proof of concept and talks about using the bases for accommodation had been going on for months.
“Some bases are small, some bases are larger in terms of numbers, but I think the talk about bases in the news today is to prove that concept, to see if it can work. We believe these bases can provide adequate accommodation for refugees,” he told BBC Breakfast.
Highlighting the quality of accommodation, Pollard said: “This is by no means luxury accommodation. But it is adequate for what is needed and this will allow us to take pressure off asylum hotel sites and allow them to be closed more quickly.”
As of June this year, approximately 32,000 refugees were housed in hotels; That number will exceed 56,000 in 2023, up more than 2,500 from the same point last year.
The expected costs of Home Office accommodation contracts for 2019-29 have tripled from £4.5bn to £15.3bn following what the Commons home affairs committee called a “dramatic increase” in demand.
On Monday, Keir Starmer said he was “disappointed and angry” as he tried to blame the previous government for leaving a “massive mess” in the asylum system by failing to process people’s claims.
Angus MacDonald, the Liberal Democrat MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, while supporting the plan, said he found the choice of barracks in his constituency “a bit odd” because it was in the city center and open barracks, and he believed the plan was to move people away from major population centers and into safer areas.
