First migrants bussed into army camp in dead of night despite furious local protests

The Home Office has confirmed the site accommodates single adult male illegal migrants who are claiming asylum in the UK in basic, safe accommodation while their claims are being assessed.

The first 27 migrants have been moved into the site which will be scaled up to more than 500, with the Home Office insisting they will only be housed there for up to three months while their asylum claim is processed before being removed from the country if their claim is rejected.

Councillor James Partridge said Wealden Council has asked their legal team to see if there is any way they can challenge the decision.

The Liberal Democrat councillor for the Crowborough North ward added: "This is a message I never wanted to have to give. We still believe the decision is wrong, but we do have to make the best of it."

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "Illegal migration has been placing immense pressure on communities. That is why we are removing the incentives that draw illegal migrants to Britain, closing asylum hotels that are blighting communities.

"Crowborough is just the start. I will bring forward site after site until every asylum hotel is closed and returned to local communities. I will not rest until order and control to our borders is restored."

Chair of the Crowborough Shield campaign Kim Bailey said the group were looking to get an injunction following the decision to house migrants at the camp.

In a statement, she said: "We will be considering with our legal team the possibility of obtaining an injunction to prevent occupation (or further occupation) of the site and in any event will be continuing our judicial review which the Home Secretary has shamefully failed to properly participate in.

"Most incredible of all is the Government’s statement in the Direction that ‘there is no evidence to indicate that asylum seeker accommodation results in a perceived or actual increase in crime, or fear of crime including with regards impacts on the health of people living nearby'.

"This is plainly and simply a lie. Crowborough Shield has filed multiple witness statements in its judicial review evidencing such perceptions and fears and describing their impact."

Yesterday, MP for Sussex Weald Nusrat Ghani said she had written to the Home Office and Wealden District Council about the migrant camp plans.

The Conservative MP said: "My letter to the Home Office calls on them to provide us with an urgent update on their plans for the Crowborough Training Camp.

"My letter to Wealden District Council, yet again, is calling on them as the lead partner to bring forward legal action to prevent and delay the Home Office moving asylum seekers into the site.

"I will not stop fighting this."

Labour has insisted Crowborough is just "part of a wider programme of reform to close every asylum hotel" once again blaming previous Governments for fixing the "broken asylum system".

A Home Office spokesman said: "Reducing pull factors to the UK, such as tackling illegal working, is also another key strand of work to reduce demand on the asylum system.

"Just last week it was announced that illegal working arrests and raids have reached the highest level in British history thanks to relentless activity by the Home Office’s Immigration Enforcement teams.

"Latest figures reveal the number of raids have soared by 77 per cent in the UK since the government came into power, leading to an 83 per cent rise in arrests (July 2024 to end of December 2025)."

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told GB News: "This is another day of shame for the Labour Government. This site was used to train 6,000 army and RAF cadets each year as well as for police and fire training.

"They have all now been kicked out to accommodate illegal immigrants instead. Illegal immigrants are costing £4billion a year to house and they pose a threat to local communities up and down the country.

"We have seen hundreds of crimes committed by illegal immigrants in asylum accommodation, including many rapes, sexual assaults and even murder.

"Now the women and children of Crowborough will be exposed to those risks too. Only the Conservatives have a plan to deal with this, come out of the ECHR and deport all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival. Then the boats will stop and we will not need to accommodate tens of thousands of illegal immigrants."