Last week’s court judgment on the Bell Hotel in Epping has understandably sent local authorities and the Home Office scurrying. Councils of all political complexions sought to close the so-called “asylum hotels” on their patches, while Yvette Cooper’s team considered where to rehouse the 30,000-plus asylum seekers currently staying in them, should the judgment be upheld and applied elsewhere.
With an acute shortage of homes “in the community” – the preferred option of this and previous governments – attention has turned once again to an option that has been fleetingly broached and dismissed before: migrant camps. Under this category, I would include both temporary canvas and prefab accommodation, as well as empty military barracks. Indeed, I have never quite understood why this prospect has been so controversial.
