Ministers led by the home secretary, Suella Braverman, are desperate to stop the use of hotels at a cost of £6.2m a day for people seeking asylum in the UK. Conservative MPs are demanding extreme measures – here are some of the alternatives “not being ruled out” by the government.
Military bases
The immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, confirmed on Wednesday that former RAF sites in Essex and Lincolnshire are earmarked for development – but the government must yet face down legal threats and anger from local Conservatives. James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, has already voiced his opposition to the Essex site, which is in his constituency.
A separate site on private land in Bexhill, East Sussex, will also be used, while Jenrick said Rishi Sunak was “showing leadership” by “bringing forward proposals” to use barracks in Catterick Garrison in his own constituency of Richmond, Yorkshire.
The advantages include that there is plenty of space to build facilities. But the government’s previous attempt to build a detention centre at a former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse was scrapped after a local outcry and legal threats.
Labour say that the proposals will not reduce spending, “contrary to all of the briefing in the papers”. They say the new sites are in addition to hotels, not replacements.
The facilities themselves will face criticism and possible legal challenges for being “grossly inadequate” for people who have fled war, charities have said.
Cruise ships
It is a mark of desperation within Downing Street that the idea of housing in cruise ships – this time a former liner from Indonesia, the Guardian has disclosed – is once again gaining currency in Whitehall.
Jenrick confirmed the government was continuing to “explore the possibility of accommodating migrants in vessels”.
Sunak proposed putting migrants on cruise ships moored around the country last summer but was warned it could be illegal under the Human Rights Act and the European convention on human rights.
Sources suggested, however, that the cruise ships could be registered as hotels rather than detention centres to get around possible legal challenges.
Some ocean liners can carry 3,000 guests, and they could be adapted, if they remain at port, to carry hundreds more.
Former ministers have said that the idea was examined last year, while an official 2022 report said it would be more expensive than housing people in hotels.
Not only were the ships themselves hugely expensive to maintain, it was “near impossible” to find insurance cover.
Barges
Ministers have also declined to rule out a future use of barges, large flat-bottomed boats that have been used to house offshore construction workers, according to the Times.
Accommodation barges are typically used to house workers for construction projects at sea such as oil refineries or offshore wind turbines.
While some are basic, others are described as “floating hotels” – or flotels – and include restaurants, fitness areas, bars, kitchens and laundry facilities.
The vessels can house hundreds of people – some of the bigger ones can accommodate more than 600. One recent barge, measuring 120 metres by 31 metres and capable of housing 300 people, cost more than £20m.
A company called DSB Offshore advertises such barges for sale in the Gulf – but a price is not attached to each advertised barge.
Cabins are communal, with two to four people to a room and shared bathrooms. All cooking and cleaning is taken care of. Modern rigs feature gaming areas, gyms and even theatres.
Rwanda
The government’s often-heralded plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is still facing a number of challenges before it ever comes to fruition.
The plan, first put forward by Boris Johnson and Priti Patel less than a year ago, was to send “tens of thousands” of asylum seekers to the central African country, where their cases would be assessed. Even if the refugees were granted leave to remain, they would be offered a new home in Rwanda, and not necessarily given a route to return to the UK.
The idea, taken from a model first used in Australia, was based on the hope that it would put off those travelling across the Channel on small boats, and break the business model of smugglers.
However, since the £140m plan was introduced, small boats crossings have soared and not a single plane has taken off to central Africa after legal challenges that could continue until the next general election. And the Rwandan government was forced to admit over the summer that they only had prepared accommodation to house several hundred people.
Since then, Sunak and Braverman have gambled on the plan, coupled with hardline policies in the illegal migration bill, helping to put off asylum seekers from coming to the UK. A visit to Kigali last week by Braverman, which was widely ridiculed as a photo opportunity, aimed to assure Tory MPs and voters that the Rwandan government was building more accommodation.
But other senior Conservatives have said that thousands of new places, funded by the UK taxpayer, will have to be built in Rwanda if the plan is to work.
Patel told a newspaper that Home Office modelling showed many thousands of refugees would have to be successfully removed to Rwanda before a deterrent effect halts those seeking refuge in the UK.
