The United Kingdom has unveiled plans to temporarily house asylum seekers in disused military bases as well as use ferries and barges in the future in a bid to reduce hotel bills, immigration minister Robert Jenrick announced on Wednesday.
He told UK MPs that the government planned to house “several thousand” asylum seekers at repurposed barracks buildings and portable buildings at two former Royal Air Force bases in southeast and eastern England.
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A separate site on private land in East Sussex in southeast England will also be used, Jenrick added.
The government is also exploring the “possibility of accommodating migrants in vessels” such as ferries and barges as it looks to reduce a £2.3 billion ($2.8 billion) annual bill for hotel accommodation.
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping illegal crossings of the Channel one of his priorities, and Jenrick said the prospect of hotel accommodation was a draw for those making the dangerous journeys.
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