London, Yiannis Haniotakis

The British government has announced the transfer of 900 asylum seekers to two military bases in England and Scotland in an attempt to calm growing public anger over the accommodation of migrants in hotels.

Officials said they will be the first of the 10,000 people which the interior ministry plans to house in military installations as it works with the defense ministry to find abandoned sites.

The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has pledged since last year to close the hotels in question and to deal with them criminal rings where smuggle migrants across the Channel. However, arrivals have increased significantly over the last year. It is estimated that around 32,000 asylum seekers are currently staying in hotels, with the associated costs having skyrocketed.

They took place in the summer incidents outside hotels in Englandafter the sexual harassment who received one minor by an asylum seeker. The government announced today that the attacker, who was actually released by mistake on Friday before being re-arrested on Sunday, has been deported.

The pressure on the government is twofold, as on the one hand it is legally bound to provides housing for asylum seekerson the other hand he receives severe criticism for them manipulations her. Just on Monday, a scathing report by Parliament’s Home Affairs committee accused the government of wasting millions on a “failed, chaotic and expensive system».

The bases to be used are located in Scotland and south-east England. Both had been used temporarily in 2021 to house families displaced from Afghanistan after the Taliban took over.

Labour’s decision follows earlier initiatives by the Conservative government, which from 2010 to 2024 had attempted to turn military installations into accommodation for asylum seekers. However, those plans have been delayed by legal challenges and strong backlash from local communities.

Undersecretary for Defense Luke Pollard told the BBC the bases could provide “adequate accommodation” and would speed up hotel closures. In fact, he emphasized that the “public demand to close all asylum hotels” has “greater importance” than the cost.

However, the parliamentary committee report warns that the use of military bases carries risks. Doctors and experts described the existing facilities as “harmful» for them guestswhile they emphasized that such large spaces “cause much more public concern than smaller structures”.