Army will build camps to house 30,000 migrants

... and the number crossing Channel each day may no longer be published

THE Army will start building camps to house up to 30,000 Channel migrants from next month, the Mail can reveal.

Plans are being drawn up for soldiers to construct temporary housing on Ministry of Defence land across the UK.

The project is likely to cost tens of millions of pounds. Home Secretary Priti Patel has privately told Tory MPs that work on the first phase is due to start within weeks.

Government sources insist the scheme will be cheaper than the current accommodation provided for migrants, which has seen thousands placed in three and four-star hotels on full board. Ministers hope the move towards temporary hostel-style housing on military bases will also act as a deterrent to migrants planning to cross the Channel.

Meanwhile, it emerged last night that the Home Office could stop publishing daily figures on the number of Channel migrants when the MoD takes over operations to intercept them.

The Home Office currently issues the data after arrivals have been processed by the UK Border Force – usually on the following day.

A source said it was unclear if that would continue to happen under MoD, adding: ‘It will be up to them whether they continue issuing figures.’ Not publishing the numbers would leave ministers open to accusations of attempting to hide crucial information from the public.

The UK Statistics Authority is understood to have raised concerns about the current way migrant numbers are released. A Home Office source said it is ‘currently considering advice’ from the authority ‘to ensure the underlying trends and total number of small boat arrivals can be presented clearly’.

On the network of new camps, a Whitehall insider said: ‘There will be accommodation built at a number of bases around the country. We think it will be a deterrent. People will be housed in temporary,

‘Pre-fabs will act as a deterrent’

pre-fab buildings and not in midmarket hotels once the project had been rolled out.’

Exact locations have not been disclosed, but a new secure site for initial processing of Channel migrants opened in the last few days at an MoD site at Manston, Kent.

It is understood it is due to house illegal immigrants for up to five days after they arrive in the UK, but its role will now be expanded to provide longer-term accommodation.

Separately, the Government has hired planning consultants to handle applications for the ongoing use of Napier barracks in Folkestone.

It has housed up to 350 asylum seekers since September 2020 and ministers plan to keep the site in use until at least 2025. Sources confirmed Napier’s capacity will be extended under the new project.

Billeting migrants at MoD sites will be controversial because Napier has drawn criticism.

A report by an all-party parliamentary group last month described ‘appalling conditions’ at the base and likened it to ‘quasi-detention’, even though occupants are free to come and go as they please.

A Government source said: ‘The MoD will be responsible for sorting out housing for migrants as they arrive. This is likely to involve the use of more barracks or other spaces similar to Napier.

‘We want to dial down the use of hotel accommodation for asylum seekers, which is currently higher than we would like.’

It comes after reports the Home Office is planning for a worst-case scenario of up to 65,000 arrivals across the Channel this year.

Nearly 28,400 migrants reached Britain last year compared with 8,410 in 2020. More than 940 have been intercepted by UK authorities so far this month – more than four times the figure in January last year.

It does not include arrivals yesterday – which are thought to number around 25.