UK to house migrants at military sites and possibly boats

March 29, 2023

The British government announced on Wednesday that two disused military sites would be used to house migrants, and plans to do the same on boats as part of its arsenal to combat illegal immigration.

Last year, a record number of migrants (more than 45,000) reached English shores crossing the English Channel in small boats, which helped to overwhelm the UK asylum system.

The Conservative government intends to dissuade irregular migrants from coming to the United Kingdom and has made this one of its priorities when successive plans in recent years have failed to stem the phenomenon. He wants to send them to Rwanda, a project suspended by court decisions.

In December, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that he wanted to halve the bill for accommodation of asylum seekers in hotels.

Hotels cost British taxpayers £2.3 billion (2.6 billion euros) a year, Immigration Secretary Robert Jenrick told parliament on Wednesday.

“The accommodation of migrants must meet their basic needs, nothing more,” he said. “We cannot risk becoming a magnet for the millions of people who are displaced each year and who seek better economic prospects,” Mr. Jenrick continued.

He revealed the location of two military sites in Essex (south-east of England) and Lincolnshire (east) and a third, non-military site in East Sussex (south-east).

Thanks to the reassignment of old barracks and the installation of prefabricated buildings, the project ultimately aims to accommodate “thousands of asylum seekers”, he said.

In addition, the government continues to “explore the possibility of accommodating migrants on boats”, he continued. This eventuality made the headlines on Wednesday morning and was denounced by organizations defending asylum seekers.

In the hope of alleviating reluctance locally, the Secretary of State for Immigration stressed that the places would offer basic medical services and would be permanently guarded. He also insisted on the aid from which the local communities where these accommodations will be located will benefit.

According to British media, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is opposed to the opening of such a site in his constituency.

“While this decision is not the outcome that my constituents and I expected, I received assurances that the safety of the population will remain at the forefront,” he wrote on Facebook.

The Refugee Council, which helps refugees, said it was “deeply concerned about the government’s plans”, judging the announced solutions “totally unsuited” to the needs of asylum seekers.

The British Red Cross, through its director of refugee support Alex Fraser, argues that “military sites, by their very nature, can re-traumatize people who have fled war and persecution. “.

On Tuesday, the government announced a plan to relocate 8,000 Afghans who arrived in the UK legally after fleeing the Taliban, and who are still in hotels, sparking criticism from the opposition and refugee groups. .