Asylum seekers in UK face being moved to army bases or disused ferries – reports

Asylum seekers could be moved out of hotels and into military bases or disused ferries under government plans that could be announced next week, according to reports.

The proposals, first reported by the Telegraph, have not been denied by government sources. However, they have told the Guardian they are “speculation”.

It is believed previous proposals involving the use of holiday camps and student halls are unlikely to be brought into use.

“We have always been upfront about the unprecedented pressure being placed on our asylum system, brought about by a significant increase in dangerous and illegal journeys into the country,” a Home Office spokesperson said. “We continue to work across government and with local authorities to identify a range of accommodation options.”

It follows controversy over the potential use of RAF Scampton, associated with the Dambusters. A meeting this week near the Lincolnshire airbase heard that about 1,500 asylum seekers could be housed in accommodation, including temporary cabins on the former runway. The site was home to the Red Arrows until 2018 when it was closed.

Former airbases are already being used to process and house asylum seekers. The former RAF Manston in Kent has been converted into an asylum processing centre. Plans to house a similar number of people at RAF Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire were dropped last year.

More than 50,000 asylum seekers are being housed in hotels at a cost of £6.8m a day, according to the Telegraph.

The hotels have been the subject of protests by far-right activists. In Knowsley, Merseyside, a police van was set on fire during a protest in February. Others including one organised by the far-right group Patriotic Alternative have taken place in Skegness in Lincolnshire.

The idea of using ferries has previously been suggested. In November the Times reported that the home secretary, Suella Braverman, had told officials to find sites that could take asylum seekers and that disused cruise ships were being considered.

Rishi Sunak has made stopping small boat arrivals a priority after the number arriving increased to 45,000 last year, up 500% in the past two years.

Earlier this month, the UK government set out details of a new law barring the entry of asylum seekers arriving in small boats across the Channel, a proposal some charities say could be impractical and criminalise the efforts of thousands of refugees.

A £500m deal was struck with France earlier this month to fund a detention centre in northern France.

It is one of a number of policies designed to stop asylum seekers arriving in small boats, including a deal with Albania to return arrivals to their home country, and the policy to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The Rwanda system has since hit a number of problems with no one yet sent to the central African country under the policy.