Thousands of asylum seekers are to be housed on old military bases and on a giant accommodation barge, in plans due to be announced by the Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick on Wednesday.
The move will be the first major step in the Government's pledge to end the controversial practice of housing asylum seekers in hotel accommodation.
Mr Jenrick will unveil initial proposals to move around 3,000 migrants from hotels into two disused RAF bases.
GB News understands that the Home Office has already secured the use of the former RAF base at Wethersfield in Essex and RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.
Any move to house asylum seekers on a giant accommodation barge would have to pass rigorous maritime, and health and safety checks
GB News
The Times is also reporting that the Government is currently looking to procure an "accommodation barge" capable of housing hundreds of people.
The paper claimed the plans were still at an early stage but suggested the barge would be located in a port, rather than positioned offshore.
Any move to house asylum seekers on a giant accommodation barge would have to pass rigorous maritime, and health and safety checks.
The Prime Minister announced in December that the Government planned to stop using hotels to house migrants.
Local communities are set to be affected by the plans
GB News
Around 400 hotels right across the country have been requisitioned by the Home Office to hold more than 51,000 asylum seekers, at a cost to the taxpayer of almost £7 million a day.
Although a move away from using hotels will be welcomed by many, the plans face fierce opposition in communities near the proposed locations for the large-scale asylum seeker accommodation centres.
Residents in the village of Wethersfield in Essex told GB News they were determined to fight the plans to locate at least 1,500 asylum seekers to the nearby base.
Last Sunday, more than 250 people from Wethersfield and surrounding communities attended an emergency meeting in Wethersfield village hall.
The local district council confirmed it had set aside extra money to seek a judicial review in the High Court, to try to have the plans stopped.
Around the base, which has been used by both the RAF and U.S. Airforce in the past, there are dozens of empty accommodation blocks and other buildings, which it's understood will be refurbished in the weeks ahead.
Wethersfield resident Tony Clarke-Holland is deputy chair of the local village association.
He said his community of just 700, and other nearby villages would not be able to cope with 1,500 asylum seekers on their doorstep.
Protests have taken place against Government plans to use RAF bases
GB News
“What we know is, as it stands, they’re going to be free to come and go.
“They haven’t done anything wrong legally. They're asylum seekers, so they can come and go.
“But the strain that would put on local communities and local services - there’s no facilities here obviously.
“If they needed anything, whether it’s medical or another emergency, we’re miles away from anywhere.”
Mr Clarke-Holland said people have “legitimate concerns” about young men wandering around the local community but were sacred of being branded racist for voicing those concerns.
Wethersfield is home to just one tiny local store, which doubles as the village post office on occasions.
The store’s owner Matt Suckling said that villagers’ concerns had been fuelled by the lack of engagement by the Home Office.
“We’ve heard rumours about what is happening, but there’s been no concrete confirmation from the government about what their plans are.
“If it’s a detention centre, that’s no good surely for people who are unfamiliar with the area, being cooped up in one small space.
“But then, if they’re allowed to roam free, that’s another concern.
“So we’re not saying we don’t want them, it’s just the fact that it’s not the right place to have all these people in a very small, secluded village.”
The Government hopes the announcement that thousands of asylum seekers will be relocated to large scale accommodation centres will act as a deterrent to those planning to enter the UK by irregular routes, like the use of small boats across the English Channel.
In August last year, the Home Office was forced to abandon similar plans to house asylum seekers at RAF Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, after an outcry from local villagers and threats by the council to take legal action against the government.
Other plans for large scale asylum centres at holiday camps and university campuses were also abandoned after similar protests.
As the number of suitable sites diminishes, the government seems determined to push ahead with its latest plans, despite the backlash from local residents.
