UK Army Plans Makeshift Migrant Camps to Deter Record Channel Crossings

The British government, under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, is preparing to use the Army's logistics teams to construct new, non-luxurious migrant accommodation camps on government and Ministry of Defence land as part of efforts to reduce costly hotel stays for asylum seekers and deter illegal Channel crossings. These makeshift camps aim to replace taxpayer-funded hotels, which currently house over 32,000 migrants, with the government pledging to close all migrant hotels by 2029. The move responds to soaring small boat arrivals, which have exceeded 34,000 this year, and addresses concerns that the UK has been too generous, creating a "pull factor" for asylum seekers across Europe. Starmer is also ending the automatic right for migrants granted asylum to bring family members to the UK, emphasizing that settlement must be earned through contributing to society rather than by paying people smugglers. The government is accelerating cross-departmental efforts to tackle the immigration crisis, including reviewing former military sites for accommodation and planning further migrant controls to be announced in the autumn. Officials stress this approach aims to balance humanitarian responsibilities with reducing incentives driving dangerous Channel crossings.