The number of migrants to be housed at three former military barracks could be ‘a lot more’ than the Home Office is currently admitting to, officials have suggested.
Minutes of a private meeting with councillors in Norfolk, near where one migrant camp is planned at RAF Barnham, reveal Home Office officials refused to guarantee that the number of small-boat migrants housed there won’t soar.
Asked if it could rise above 1,250, the number publicly being used by Shabana Mahmood’s department, officials told councillors: ‘It could be a lot more.’
And they revealed they’re already ‘looking at the feasibility to increase’ the number of asylum seekers housed at RAF Wethersfield in Essex, which opened to migrants in July 2023.
Its current capacity is around 700 to 800, but officials want to ramp this up to at least 1,220 in the coming months.
Critics last night said the minutes, obtained by the Daily Mail, were proof that the Home Office was ‘lying’ about the true number of migrants it wants to house at the three former military barracks in a bid to get the plans over the line.
As well as RAF Barnham, it wants to create camps for asylum seekers at former RAF bases in Bicester, Oxfordshire, and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire.
The Home Office announced in June that it was considering using RAF Barnham to house people seeking asylum, and there have since been regular peaceful protests at the site
Protesters march to the camp behind a banner saying 'Thetford and Barnham Says No To Asylum Seekers' during a protest against a plan to use RAF Barnham
Scott Hussey was one of several Norfolk councillors told that numbers housed at RAF Barnham could end up being 'a lot more'
The disclosure also threatens to deepen tensions with communities who warn the Home Office’s plans would already see nearby villagers outnumbered by asylum seekers, most of whom will be young males who arrived on small boats.
Scott Hussey, a Reform UK councillor for Norfolk County Council who attended the meeting with Home Office officials about RAF Barnham, said: ‘This leaves the door wide open for a semi-permanent migrant super-camp on the doorstep of a peaceful 600-resident village and a market town - a devastating blow for local communities where tensions have already flared.
‘With boats arriving daily, demand is only going up. It would be no surprise if the Home Office has identical plans for other military bases around the country.’
Michael Hadwen, Reform UK’s leader of Suffolk County Council, whose residents will also be affected, added: ‘This isn’t the first time the Home Office has lied.
‘They’re moving the goalposts and clearly not playing fair about the number of people they want to house at RAF Barnham.
‘So far we have seen peaceful protests. But we will not be able to guarantee the safety of that site if they continue lying and the police don’t have the resources to police that site.’
Tory MP Nick Timothy, whose nearby constituents in West Suffolk would be affected, said: ‘This is yet further proof that Labour’s decision to impose huge numbers of illegal immigrants on the peaceful and quiet communities of Suffolk is an absolute disgrace.
‘Ministers have been slippery and secretive throughout - announcing the use of RAF Barnham after Parliament rose for summer recess and refusing to answer basic questions from local MPs.
‘And now we know there is a secret plan to in fact house even more of these illegal immigrants at Barnham.
‘The threat to public safety and our local way of life is obvious. These people should be deported - we do not want them in Suffolk.’
Professor Olga Matthias, spokesman for the Linton-on-Ouse Action Group, which is fighting against plans for the North Yorkshire site, said: ‘I think they’re completely lying about what they’re saying about the numbers.
RAF Linton-on-Ouse could house as many as 1,500 male asylum seekers if the Home Office presses ahead with its plans
Olga Matthias campaigns on behalf of residents of Linton-on-Ouse who are opposed to the proposed asylum seeker centre
‘They will have the idea that they will put far more people in.’
The meeting between senior Home Office officials, which included deputy director of asylum accommodation, took place this month.
They were asked about the numbers to be housed at RAF Barnham, saying ‘a ceiling number of 1,250’ was publicly released as ‘an illustration’.
But pressed by Mr Hussey on the 1,250 figure, one official replied: ‘It can’t be an absolute guarantee, because that could in the future be changed… it could be a lot more, it could be a lot.’
They added: ‘We’d have to look through the feasibility of any expansion, because we need to make sure that the site works, that it operates safely, that healthcare on site works properly.’
The Home Office has so far said it will house 3,750 migrants at the three former RAF bases, including 1,250 at RAF Barnham and 1,200 at RAF Linton-on-Ouse.
But protesters in the villages of Barnham, which sits close to the Norfolk-Suffolk border, and Linton-on-Ouse have pointed out their populations are only around 600 and that they will already be outnumbered if the Home Office plans go ahead.
The Home Office has submitted an ‘Urgent Crown Development’ bid to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This would allow it to override council planning officials to press ahead with the three sites.
It comes after the number of small boat migrants which have arrived in the UK since Labour won the election in July 2024 surged past 80,000 this month.
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman, said: ‘The Home Office has just exposed its true colours.
‘It has no interest in stopping the illegal invasion of our country – instead, it is making plans to expand migrant camps to house more of them.
‘Small communities are being expected to absorb thousands more migrants overnight without the infrastructure to cope, putting enormous pressure on local services and endangering communities.
‘There’s a very simple solution to this. Britain does not need bigger migrant camps.
‘It needs a Government that stops advertising Britain as the food bank of the world and starts detaining and deporting every single illegal migrant. That is exactly what Reform UK will do.’
It came as Essex County Council unveiled plans to deploy private security guards in three town and city centres to provide reassurance to residents, as the number of asylum seekers is set to surge by as much as 50 per cent at a former neaerby RAF base in Wethersfield.
Under 'Operation Vanguard', the council-funded guards will be deployed to Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford amid concerns about asylum seekers gathering in the town centres who are bussed in from Wethersfield.
The visible presence is designed to reassure residents and deter and prevent any anti-social behaviour.
The Leader of Essex County Council, Councillor Peter Harris, said the move was 'positive and proportionate', adding: 'Concerns for community safety are clearly there, particularly among women and girls, because of the daily gatherings of asylum seekers – gatherings which will increase in number and size as the facility expands.
'I have voiced these concerns directly to the Home Office, which now runs a fleet of 17 minibuses to the three nearest towns and cities on a daily basis.'
A Home Office spokesman said: 'We are closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites.
‘We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, engaging with local authorities to reduce the impact on communities.
‘And we are reducing the burden on local communities and taxpayers, with asylum costs down by £1 billion since the general election.’