The UK government has announced plans to house asylum seekers in three former military barracks, including RAF Barnham in Suffolk, RAF Linton-on-Ouse in Yorkshire, and a former Army barracks in Bicester, Oxfordshire. The move is part of a broader strategy to close 20 hotels currently used for migrant accommodation, a step ministers claim will save taxpayers approximately £170 million this financial year. These changes aim to reduce overall asylum costs, which the government states have already decreased by nearly £1 billion.
Plans are also in place to extend the use of existing sites in Crowborough until 2030 and Wethersfield beyond 2027, collectively creating nearly 5,000 additional beds. Border Security and Asylum Minister Alex Norris stated that the government is fulfilling its pledge to close all asylum hotels and return them to communities. "This is a system being brought back under control – and we will not stop until the job is done," Norris said. Home Office figures indicate that the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels has fallen to its lowest level since 2022, with 20,885 individuals in such accommodation at the end of March, a 35% year-on-year decrease.
However, the announcement has drawn criticism from the Conservative party. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp argued that Labour should prioritize sending migrants back to their home countries. "Labour should be putting illegal immigrants on a plane home rather than messing around with military camps and hotels," Philp stated. He contended that without robust deportation measures, particularly by leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), there is no effective deterrent. Philp also referenced leaked documents suggesting over 400,000 individuals are in the UK without leave to remain, with nearly half considered not removable due to outstanding asylum or human rights claims.
The government plans to address these challenges with the forthcoming Immigration and Asylum Bill, which Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to introduce. The bill aims to introduce new restrictions on migrants attempting to evade deportation and is expected to double the budget for Immigration Enforcement by 2029, while increasing officer numbers by nearly two-thirds.
The expansion of military barracks for asylum seeker accommodation carries the risk of local opposition. Previous plans to house up to 1,500 asylum seekers at RAF Linton-on-Ouse were abandoned in 2022 following protests and a legal challenge from the local council. The closure of hotels, such as the Bell Hotel in Epping, comes after incidents like the sexual assault of a minor and a woman by a migrant housed there, which led to local protests. Labour has committed to ceasing the use of hotels for asylum seekers before the next general election.