Army teams are set to help construct migrant camps in an effort to tackle small boat crossings.
Logistics teams with a background in building war barracks are said to be preparing plans to open the facilities.
The camps could provide an alternative to asylum hotels, which Labour has pledged to close by 2029.
The number of migrant arrivals on small boats has topped 34,000 in 2025 so far, marking a record for this point in the year since data on Channel crossings was first reported in 2018.
Former military sites including RAF Wethersfield in Essex are already being used to house asylum seekers
|PA
“We are acknowledging there are people who are ‘asylum shopping’ across the continent, looking for the country that offers the most," a Government source told The Sun.
“We have been criticised in this country for being too generous — creating a pull factor.
"Today, the Government is showing that we get it, that we have been overly generous, and that we will reduce the pull factors that see thousands attempting small boat crossings.”
It was revealed last month that asylum seekers could be temporarily moved to military sites as ministers seek to speed up plans to end the costly use of asylum hotels after they became a focal point for anti-migrant protests over the summer.
LATEST DEVLEOPMENTS:
The number of migrant arrivals on small boats has topped 34,000 in 2025 so far | GETTYDefence secretary John Healey said military planners were being drafted into border command, while ministers were considering using defence sites to house asylum seekers.
He said part of the Government's plan to tackle the illegal immigration crisis would involve looking at moving asylum seekers into “temporary” accommodation on military sites, but did not confirm at the time a date for when such transfers might take place.
Two former military sites, Napier Barracks in Kent and RAF Wethersfield in Essex, are already being used as asylum accommodation after being opened under the previous Tory government.
Migrant camps as opposed to hotels may serve as a deterrent to those looking to cross the Channel to Britain.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch previously said it was time to "make life less comfortable" for asylum seekers and proposed the use of detention centres and migrant camps as a deterrent.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has pledged to "do whatever it takes to secure our borders".
Sir Keir Starmer will today hold talks at the European Political Community summit on Government plans to end automatic family union rights for those granted asylum in the Britain and change the requirements for long-term settlement.
New applications to the existing refugee family reunion route have been suspended since September.
Sir Keir Starmer will today hold talks at the European Political Community summit on illegal migration
|PA
The Prime Minister is also set to discuss how European countries can work together to tackle illegal migration.
Sir Keir said: “I believe that if you want to come to the UK, you should contribute to our society.
“That is the tolerant and fair approach to migration that our communities are built on, but the current system is not fit for purpose.
“That is why we’re making fundamental changes to what those granted asylum are afforded in the UK.
“Settlement must be earned by contributing to our country, not by paying a people smuggler to cross the Channel in a boat.”
He said the UK would continue to welcome “genuine refugees fleeing persecution” but must also address the “pull factors” driving illegal small boat crossings.
“There will be no golden ticket to settling in the UK, people will have to earn it,” he added.