UK to move asylum seekers to barracks

The United Kingdom government is considering plans to relocate migrants from asylum hotels to barracks on former military sites, with newly appointed Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who was previously Justice Secretary, expected to set out the policy within weeks.

The Labour government has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029, but is under pressure to accelerate the timeline after a series of violent protests outside sites nationwide.

More than 32,000 asylum seekers are currently in hotels. Although hotel use is up 8 percent year-on-year, occupancy has declined steadily since December 2024. The current total of 32,059 is also far below the September 2023 peak of more than 56,000 under the Conservative government, according to analysis by Sky News.

However, the rise in small-boat arrivals in 2025 is adding pressure on accommodation, with English Channel crossings on track to reach a record if current trends continue.

British media reported on Saturday the UK government is also reportedly close to finalizing a "one in, one out" migrant returns deal with Germany, similar to the agreement reached recently with France.

Starmer also initiated a shakeup of immigration policy staff on Saturday, when he removed two junior ministers, including the border security minister, in a clear-out of the Home Office leadership. He has reportedly told the department to close all asylum hotels well ahead of the 2029 target.

An estimated 1,000 irregular migrants arrived in the UK via small boats on Saturday alone, after a recent lull in crossings, according to official figures.

There were 3,567 illegal arrivals in August, the lowest since 2021.But so far in 2025, the number of arrivals stands at 29,003, the highest on record for this stage of the year.

UK Defense Secretary John Healey confirmed on Sunday that the government could use military barracks to house asylum seekers.

"We are looking at the potential use of military and non-military sites for temporary accommodation for the people who come across on these small boats that may not have a right to be here," Healey told Sky News.

"I'm looking really hard at it. I'm looking at it with the Home Office, and I recognize that the loss of confidence of the public over recent years in Britain's ability to control its borders needs to be satisfied. And we have to deal with this problem with the small boats," Healey added.

Starmer's new Cabinet is ready to overhaul human rights laws to address immigration, reported The Times newspaper, as it seeks to counter Reform UK and win back voters' trust, with Mahmood said to be backing the move.

A party insider told The Times that Mahmood is likely to push to reform the European Convention on Human Rights, or ECHR, and take a much more radical approach than her predecessor, Yvette Cooper. Last week, Starmer told Cabinet ministers there was a need to "go further and faster" on migration.

The survival of Western democracies depends on fundamental reform of Europe's asylum system, warned one of Germany's most eminent legal figures last week.

Hans-Jurgen Papier, previously the most senior judge in Germany as former president of its Federal Constitutional Court, warned that far-reaching asylum rulings by the ECHR in Strasbourg are undermining core democratic principles.

He said current rules have enabled "uncontrolled and unconditional immigration" and must be overhauled before public trust collapses. He urged curbing ECHR and national court rulings that, he argued, exceed the postwar understanding of asylum rights and have produced a rigid, outdated body of law.