Migrants coming to the UK will no longer be homed in hotels, it's been reported. Instead, they will be housed on a giant barge and in two disused military bases.
Sources have told The Times that the moves are part of Tory government plans to put people off coming to the UK in the first place. The newspaper is reporting tonight (Tuesday, March 28) that an announcement will be carried tomorrow from the Home Office.
The “accommodation barge” that the government is planning to use can home hundreds of people, and will be docked at a port within the UK. According to a government source quoted in The Times, the barge will have a “deterrent effect” on people crossing the Channel.
They added that the barge idea is at an “early stage” and has issues of practicality. Such barges often have mere basic facilities and are used for off-shore projects.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is expected to confirm plans on Wednesday (March 29) to transfer around 3,000 migrants from hotels to two RAF bases. Local councils have fiercely opposed the moves and threatened legal action.
The Home Office, Mr Jenrick is expected to announced, has acquired from the Ministry of Defence the use of RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and RAF Wethersfield in Essex. Foreign secretary James Cleverly has previously voiced opposition to the plans to use RAF Wethersfield as he is the current local MP.
According to The Times, there are more than 51,000 asylum seekers in about 400 hotels, costing the taxpayer nearly £7 million a day. Whitehall sources have speculated that the barge and airbase solution is intended to show an arresting of the “eyewatering” costs of hotels.
A government source told The Times: “This is not just about moving migrants out of hotels, we haven’t got the numbers to do that yet, but it’s also about the deterrent effect. If you come to the UK illegally you won’t be going into a nice hotel, you’ll be going to a more basic site.”
