The Home Office plans to use more military camps to house asylum seekers

The Interior Ministry is trying to use three more military bases to house thousands of asylum seekers as the government seeks to evict people from hotels.

Three Ministry of Defense sites in Bicester in Oxfordshire, Barnham in Suffolk and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire could house up to 3,750 asylum seekers if planning permission is granted.

The Government is looking to extend the existing military sites in Crowborough, East Sussex, until 2030 and Wethersfield, Essex, beyond 2027.

Labor has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels, which are expensive and have become a focal point for anti-immigrant protests.

In March this year, 20,885 (21%) asylum seekers were in hotels and 72,768 (75%) were in other shelters awaiting a decision.

The number of asylum seekers in hotels has fallen from a peak of 56,000 in September 2023.

On Thursday, the Home Office said a further 20 asylum hotels were closed, bringing the number in use to 170.

Border Security and Asylums Minister Alex Norris said: “We are taking asylum seekers to ex-military bases which are a long way from the hotels we let them in under the previous government.

“This system is being brought back under control – and we won’t stop until the job is done.”

But Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Phillips said Labor should “put illegal immigrants on planes instead of cramming them into military camps and hotels”.

“Labor will not do what is necessary to break down the barrier to deportation, and if you don’t emigrate, there is no barrier,” he said.

The government last year announced plans to increase the number of MoD sites it uses to accommodate asylum seekers.

Two former military bases – RAF Wethersfield in Essex, and Crowborough training camp in East Sussex – are already being used to house asylum seekers.

However, the use of military sites for this purpose has been hampered by practical problems and has been heavily contested by local residents and human rights groups.

This week, an MP said plans to house up to 300 asylum seekers at Cameron Barracks in Inverness had been scrapped following protests.

The Red Cross said military bases “are often located in isolated areas and by their very nature can make people fleeing conflict and persecution difficult.”

Sam Turner, director of migration and displacement at the British Red Cross, said: “It’s clear that housing asylum seekers in hotels is not good for anyone, but any alternative accommodation must enable people to live in safety and dignity.”