Britain’s Labour government, led by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, is set to scrap the use of former military bases and barges as sites to house illegal immigrants claiming asylum. Arguing these migrant sites have put too heavy a burden on local services, the Starmer government will instead spread them all over the country under a policy it calls “dispersed accommodation.”
Labour has begun negotiating with municipal councils on the number of migrants who will be settled in each locality. Additionally, contractors for the Home Office—the government department tasked with identifying and securing housing for migrants—are already inquiring about sites such as former student apartment blocks and elderly care facilities. The contractors have even advertised for landlords who might have empty single-family homes.
Prior to the policy change, migrants had been housed at former military sites like RAF Wethersfield and RAF Scampton. The Bibby Stockholm barge, moored at the Portland Port in Dorset, had also been used to house upwards of 500 migrants. However, Secretary of State for the Home Department Yvette Cooper terminated the barge’s use as migrant housing soon after Labour came to power in July.
‘EQUITABLE DISPERAL OF MIGRANTS.’
“It’s all about having a more equitable dispersal of asylum seekers,” an anonymous Labor Party source told The Times of London, defending the migrant dispersal decision.
The Labour government’s “dispersed accommodation” migrant policy comes as riots spread across the country in response to the stabbing deaths of three children—with five others critically injured—by the 17-year-old son of two Rwandan migrants on July 29.
Clashes between anti-migration activists and police have happened sporadically over the last week. With mobs of Muslims entering the fray now as well in several British cities—with a comparatively weak police response—the civil unrest has the potential to escalate further.
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