Home Office delays plan to house asylum seekers at military bases

The Home Office has delayed plans to house asylum seekers at two military sites in East Sussex and the Scottish Highlands.

About 540 people were to be sent to Crowborough Army Training Camp and another 300 to Cameron Barracks in Inverness.

The UK government originally wanted to move asylum seekers by the beginning of December as part of a campaign to close asylum hotels.

The Home Office said it wanted to avoid hasty plans leading to “unsafe and chaotic situations”. It said it would proceed when the facilities are “fully operational and safe”.

Both Crowborough and Cameron Barracks were earmarked earlier this year as housing potential temporary asylum seekers.

In East Sussex, the local authority Wealden District Council passed a motion formally opposing the Crowborough proposal.

Highland Council also raised concerns over the scale of the barracks plans and the pressure on local services.

The 140-year-old base near Inverness city center was previously used to house families fleeing Afghanistan.

The Home Office said it still planned to “accelerate” the movement of people.

But he said he would not do so at the expense of the safety of local communities.

A spokesperson said: “We are angry at the level of illegal immigrants and asylum hotels.

“Visiting large military sites is an important part of our reforms to remove the incentives that attract illegal immigrants to the UK.

“We are accelerating plans to transfer people to Cameroon Barracks when it is fully operational and safe.

“We will continue to work closely with local representatives and officials during this transition.”

In the summer there were widespread protests across Britain against the accommodation of asylum seekers in hotels.

In Scotland, protests were held outside hotels housing asylum seekers in Perth and Aberdeenshire during August, as well as in Falkirk.

In September a brick was thrown through the window of the Clandon Hotel in Falkirk, months after hundreds of pro- and anti-immigration protesters demonstrated outside.

The city’s Park Hotel was also targeted after former resident Sadiq Nikzad was sentenced to nine years in prison for raping a 15-year-old girl.

Highland Council officials recommended writing to the Home Office to seek “urgent clarity” on the proposals in early November.

The local authority had earlier said that about 60 people could come to the barracks per week from the second week of December.

He said the plan was to use the site for 12 months before it became a military base again.

But a report also raised concerns about the scale of the proposal, the potential for protests and the barracks becoming a target for those “deliberately seeking to incite violence and hatred”.

A council spokesperson said: “A multi-agency partnership involving the council, NHS Highland, Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the Scottish Government, Cosla and the Home Office is now meeting weekly to plan for the arrival of asylum seekers and learn from best practice.”