Labour has been accused of dumping the asylum crisis on communities outside its own political heartlands after unveiling plans to house thousands more migrants in former military barracks across England.
The Home Office is pressing ahead with proposals to convert three additional Ministry of Defence sites into large-scale asylum accommodation while extending two existing camps, despite mounting opposition from residents, councils and MPs.
The controversial expansion comes as ministers race to fulfil Labour’s pledge to shut down asylum hotels before the next General Election – replacing one politically explosive form of accommodation with another.
Critics have seized on the fact that the proposed sites are located in constituencies represented by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, while local campaigners warn villages and market towns risk being overwhelmed by developments they say lack the infrastructure to support them.
Under the plans, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is seeking planning approval for MOD Bicester in Oxfordshire, RAF Barnham in Suffolk and the former RAF base at Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire.
Combined, the three sites would house around 3,750 asylum seekers awaiting decisions on their claims.
Labour also intends to keep the controversial Wethersfield asylum camp in Essex open beyond 2027 while expanding its capacity from 800 to around 1,200 bed spaces. A further site at Crowborough in East Sussex will remain in operation until at least 2030.
The announcement has triggered an immediate political backlash.
Professor Olga Matthias, spokesperson for the Linton-on-Ouse action group, said local opposition had never disappeared.
“It’s always been the wrong place. At the time of the campaign, we said it was the wrong plan in the wrong place.
“That hasn’t changed. It is a small village without the infrastructure to support hundreds of asylum seekers.”
Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller criticised what he described as a lack of consultation with local communities.
My main concern at the moment is the lack of warning from the Home Office and the lack of evidence they have provided to me and the local community as to why this is justified,” he said.
Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy warned the Barnham proposal would place additional pressure on local communities.
“Housing undocumented asylum seekers here would affect safety, services and cohesion,” he said.
Labour’s plans have also exposed divisions within its own ranks.
South West Norfolk Labour MP Terry Jermy publicly broke with the Government, saying he “strongly object(s) to this site being used for this purpose.”
Braintree District Council also condemned the decision to retain and expand the Wethersfield site.
Council leader Tom Cunningham accused ministers of ignoring years of local opposition.
“We are bitterly disappointed that, after more than three years of having the UK’s largest asylum accommodation centre imposed on this district, it appears it will now stay for an indeterminate amount of time,” he said.
The Government insists the policy is necessary to end the expensive use of hotels for asylum seekers.
Justice minister Jake Richards defended the strategy, saying Labour remained committed to delivering on its election promise.
We made a promise to the British people that we would close these hotels, which have caused so much angst, so much anxiety, and so much pain across the country and we will do that,” he told the BBC.
But criticism has come from both sides of the debate.
Refugee Council chief executive Imran Hussain argued that transferring asylum seekers from hotels into former military bases simply replaces one unsuitable form of accommodation with another.
Moving refugees from unsuitable hotels to unsuitable former military sites is storing up problems for the next prime minister by repeating policies that failed in the recent past,” he said.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp rejected the entire approach.
“Labour should be putting illegal immigrants on a plane home rather than messing around with military camps and hotels,” he said.
The controversy comes despite the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels falling sharply over the past year.
Home Office figures show 20,885 people were living in hotel accommodation at the end of March while awaiting asylum decisions, down 35 per cent from the previous year and well below the peak of more than 56,000 recorded in September 2023.
On Thursday, ministers announced the closure of another 20 asylum hotels, arguing that expanding alternative accommodation would reduce long-term costs to taxpayers.
For opponents, however, the latest proposals suggest Labour is not ending the asylum accommodation controversy so much as relocating it—swapping hotels for military barracks while opening a fresh political battle with communities that say they are being asked to shoulder the burden.
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