LONDON (The Pavlovic Today) — The Home Office has confirmed that hundreds of asylum seekers will be relocated to military sites in Scotland and southern England as part of the government’s plan to end the use of hotels for migrant accommodation.
Around 900 men are expected to be temporarily housed in two sites currently under consideration — a barracks in Inverness and an army training camp in East Sussex.
Housing asylum seekers in hotels has led to spiraling costs and rising public anger. The government estimates that the use of hotels is costing the taxpayer between five and six million pounds every single day.
The Prime Minister has committed to ending hotel use by the end of this Parliament, amid concerns about social cohesion and growing unrest. Ministers say they want to move quickly to begin the transition.
“The last government opened up lots and lots of hotels. I want to see them closed down as quickly as possible,” said PM Keir Starmer, emphasizing the urgency of the government’s new approach.
“I do want to empty out the asylum hotels. I’ve been bearing down on the various responsible departments to say, go faster, go further. And I’m really pleased that by the end of this year, we will have got some into military bases. That’s the announcement that has just recently come out. I want to see more of that. But my message to the team has been, you need to go further, you need to go faster. We need to get this sorted,” Starmer added.
The idea of using military sites to accommodate asylum seekers isn’t new. Two existing facilities — the former RAF base at Wethersfield in Essex and Napier Barracks in Kent — already house single adult men.
The new plan will expand that model. The Cameron Barracks in Inverness is expected to take its share of the 900 asylum seekers, with a guarded welcome from the city’s Liberal Democrat MP. In East Sussex, however, plans to use a military training camp in Crowborough have been described as “wholly inappropriate” by the town’s Conservative MP.
Ministers have not confirmed whether using military sites will be cheaper than hotels or whether the move will prove less controversial in local communities.
The government faces mounting pressure to show progress on its pledge to “stop the boats” and reform the asylum system. Rehousing the 32,000 asylum seekers currently in hotels will take time, and officials admit that the only lasting solution lies in clearing the backlog of asylum claims and reducing new arrivals.
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