RAF Barnham to house fewer migrants in new plans

The number of migrants that could be housed at a former RAF base has been slashed from 1,250 to about 930 under new Home Office plans.

RAF Barnham in Suffolk was one of three Ministry of Defence (MoD) sites named in June as potential asylum housing sites, as the government vowed to move away from hotel-based accommodation.

There had been widespread opposition to the proposal to use the site, near Thetford in Norfolk, including protests outside the base.

The Home Office said it had revised a planning application for the site to reduce the number of migrants housed there based on "ongoing assessment of the site".

According to information provided by the Home Office in a meeting with Norfolk County Council earlier this year, those accommodated at the site would be exclusively men, the majority being single young men who arrived in the United Kingdom illegally.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We continue to explore the use of MoD Barnham for asylum accommodation.

"The revised application reflects an amended layout linked to our ongoing assessment of the site.

"The government is working on a fairer distribution of asylum accommodation across the country, with over £1bn saved in costs since the election. This includes closing all asylum hotels and moving to alternative accommodation, including former military sites."

The new plans would provide bed spaces for 931 asylum seekers.

No final decision has been made.

The site is currently used by Norfolk and Suffolk police forces for specialist training.

The other sites being considered for migrant accommodation include MoD Bicester in Oxfordshire and MoD Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire.

The government is also seeking to extend the use of two existing sites, including Crowborough in East Sussex until 2030 and Wethersfield in Essex beyond 2027.

Reform UK, which runs Suffolk County Council, has called for a county-wide referendum on the plans to house asylum seekers at the base.

Norfolk County Council, run by Reform UK, formally objected to the proposals and said it would put strain on local services in Thetford.

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