Military Bases Will Be Used 'For Several Thousand' Asylum Seekers Including One In Bexhill

The government has announced plans to put "thousands of asylum seekers" in disused military bases to accommodate their "essential living needs and nothing more".

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick confirmed plans to house migrants at former RAF sites in Essex and Lincolnshire despite legal threats from local Conservatives.

A separate site on private land in Bexhill, East Sussex, will also be used, while Mr Jenrick said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is "showing leadership" by "bringing forward proposals" to use barracks in Catterick Garrison in his constituency.

The Home Office is also "continuing to explore" controversial plans to use vessels as a form of accommodation while asylum claims are being processed, Mr Jenrick said.

He told the Commons:

"The prime minister is showing leadership on this issue by bringing forward proposals to provide accommodation at Catterick Garrison Barracks in his constituency, and we're continuing to explore the possibility of accommodating migrants in vessels as they are in Scotland and in the Netherlands."

The announcement was met with cries of "it's not the same" from Scottish MPs.

In Scotland, cruise ships have been used to house Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.

The new housing plans are aimed at reducing the £6.8m a day the government says it spends on hotel accommodation while acting as a deterrent to prevent Channel crossings.

Charities said the military accommodation won't stop the small boats and is "grossly inadequate" for people who have fled war, while two Conservative-led councils are preparing legal action.

Labour said the proposals will not reduce spending "contrary to all of the briefing in the papers" - saying the new sites are in addition to hotels, not replacements.

Accommodation 'will meet essential living needs'

Mr Jenrick claimed the use of hotels to house asylum seekers has resulted in a loss of tourism and cancelled weddings and "we must not elevate the well-being of illegal migrants above those of the British people".

He said the new accommodation "should meet their essential living needs and nothing more".

"We cannot risk becoming a magnet for the millions of people who are displaced and seeking better economic prospects," he said.

He said the two RAF sites will be "scaled up over the coming months" to house "to several thousand asylum seekers through repurposed barrack blocks and porta cabins".

"This government remains committed to meeting our legal obligations for those who would otherwise be destitute but we are not prepared to go further," he said.

Ahead of Mr Jenrick's announcement, Braintree District Council said it is planning to "imminently" apply for a High Court injunction to challenge the proposed use of the Wethersfield airbase in Essex, amid concerns over the "isolated" location and impact on local services.

These concerns have previously been voiced by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, the Conservative MP for the area, though earlier deputy PM Dominic Raab told Sky News his cabinet colleague now "fully supports" the policy.

Tory-run West Lindsey District Council said it was "extremely disappointed" by the plans to use RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and is "considering all legal options, including urgent judicial review proceedings".

Sir Edward Leigh, the Conservative MP for the area, said using the former home of the Dambusters RAF squadron could jeopardise a £300 million regeneration project to convert it into a heritage site.

He said the decision was "not based on good governance but the politics of trying to do something" and asked Mr Jenrick:

"How will he protect the safety of 1,000 people living right next door to 1,500 migrants, and a primary school? He can't guarantee anything."

'Admission of failure'

Transport minister Huw Merriman said voters in his Bexhill constituency will have "great concern" about plans to house asylum seekers in the Northeye former training centre.

Opposition MPs also criticised the announcement, with Labour's Yvette Cooper calling it an "admission of failure".

"Maybe that's why the Home Secretary has asked the Immigration Minister to make it instead," she quipped in a dig at her government counterpart Suella Braverman.

Ms Cooper said the Conservatives promised four years ago to halve Channel crossings but "they've gone up 20 fold since then", while more hotels have opened up despite repeated promises to stop their use.

"The asylum system is broken because they broke it," she said.

"They have let criminal gangs rip along the channel. People smuggler convictions have halved in the last four years, even though more boats and more gangs have been crossing. And yet Tory MPs yesterday voted against Labour's plan for cross-border police units to go after the gangs."

Migrants 'not crossing Channel for meagre hotels'

There was also backlash from charities, with Amnesty International UK describing the government's argument that its plan will put migrants off travelling to the UK as "utter nonsense".

Speaking to Sky News, the charity's refugee and migrant rights programme director, Steve Valdez-Symonds, said:

"People don't get into dangerous boats or on the back of lorries and make dangerous journeys and put themselves in the hands of, quite frankly, very dangerous people on the basis of trying to get some meagre accommodation in a hotel, stuck in limbo in the UK's asylum system."

He added that the plan to house migrants on military bases "reflects a continuing failure by the government to simply get a grip on deciding the claims of people who arrive in this country and make asylum claims, something that it's determined to stop doing, which is why we have this big backlog, and why it is constantly flailing around for places to accommodate people".

(c) Sky News 2023: Military bases will be used 'for several thousand' asylum seekers including one in PM's

--------------------

Bexhill MP, Huw Merriman, has responded to today’s announcement by the Immigration Minister, Robert Jenrick, that a site in East Sussex has been chosen to house asylum seekers. It will be located on the site of a former training centre, known as Northeye, in Bexhill. It will be one of a number of similar sites across the UK.

This is part of the government’s policy to house asylum seekers in suitable, safe accommodation where they can access appropriate support whilst their asylum cases are considered. The use of hotels, hostels and other temporary accommodation is not suitable, sustainable, or cost-effective for British taxpayers or local authorities.

Mr Merriman said:

“I know that this decision will have an impact on local authorities and public services. It will also be of great concern to local residents.

"It is important that the community is fully appraised of the proposals and reassured as to the impact. I will be meeting with the Immigration Minister, and officials, at the Home Office tomorrow to take forward local concerns along with any proposals and ideas which local stakeholders and I consider would be necessary or helpful. 

"I am keen to identify the challenges and issues this will create for the town and its residents. I will work with the Home Office, and other organisations, to deliver the resources and safeguards which will be needed to reassure residents.

"I will share further information about the proposals for Northeye as soon as it is made available to me.”