Hundreds of asylum seekers moved from hotels to army barracks, Home Office announces

Refugee Council criticises Labour’s decision, saying military sites are unsuitable and ‘more expensive than hotels’

Hundreds of asylum seekers have been removed from government-funded hotels while others have been sent to live in army barracks, the Home Office has announced.

Eleven “asylum hotels” in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been closed, as first reported by the Guardian, and more will close “in the coming weeks”. About 350 claimants have been moved to the Crowborough military camp in east Sussex, described by a spokesperson as “basic accommodation”.