The asylum seeker plan locals say stoked disorder

Government plans to house more than a thousand male asylum seekers at a former military base near a Norfolk town have caused controversy and concern.

And it is thought they added to tensions in Thetford which boiled over into several nights of unrest, with 20 people since arrested.

Part of a wider plan to cut down on housing people in hotels, nearby RAF Barnham in Suffolk is one of three sites the Home Office is seeking to use.

But what do we know about the plans, how much opposition is there – and when will we know if they will go ahead?

Just two miles south of Thetford, RAF Barnham opened during the early stages of World War Two.

Later used to house nuclear and chemical weapons, part of the site was sold off in the 1960s to become an industrial estate.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) owns the remainder and while it does not use the base, specialist police training takes place there.

In June, it emerged the Home Office was seeking to house about 3,750 asylum seekers across three military sites – with RAF Barnham being one of them.

While the government has not confirmed any numbers, a meeting of West Suffolk Council was told that up to 1,250 people would be moved into RAF Barnham.

According to the Home Office, "if deemed suitable, the site would accommodate single adult males between the ages of 18 and 65 who have applied for asylum".

It said they would arrive following "initial screening checks against policing and immigration databases" while their asylum claims are processed.

They would then be moved to other accommodation.

A briefing from Suffolk County Council said about sixty men would be arriving each week.

Whilst at RAF Barnham they would be free to leave the site, which has worried people, said South West Norfolk Labour MP Terry Jermy, whose constituency includes Thetford.

"I think a lot of the concern is that people aren't detained," according to Jermy, who has said he "strongly" opposes the plan.

The Home Office has said "there will be a specialist and experienced provider of security services permanently on site... as well as security systems including CCTV monitoring."

It has also insisted that those who have stayed at RAF Barnham will not "end up living in the local community".

Labour has pledged to stop using asylum hotels, a costly form of accommodation that has become a focal point for anti-migrant protests.

It said that in 2023, when 400 hotels were being used, the cost to the taxpayer was £9m a day – more than £3bn for the year.

In September that year, the number of those being housed in hotels hit a peak of 56,000.

As of March this year, 20,885 (21%) asylum seekers were in hotels and 72,768 (75%) were in other accommodation as they awaited decisions.

Earlier this week the government confirmed another 13 hotels were no longer being used, including the Brook in Norwich which was vacated in May.

It said it had stopped using a total of 44 hotels in 2026, giving expected savings of £224m.

Other former military sites – Wethersfield in Essex and Crowborough in East Sussex - are already being used as housing for single males.

In June, the government said it wanted to increase Wethersfield's population from about 800 to 1,220.

There is widespread opposition, with regular – mostly peaceful - protests taking place outside RAF Barnham.

Barnham Parish Council, West Suffolk Council and Suffolk County Council are all firmly against the idea.

The county council's Reform UK leader Michael Hadwen said he had "enormous concerns about the impact of 1,250 men moving into such a small village with a small rural primary school."

A key part of the argument is that Barnham, with a population of fewer than 600, has little infrastructure with no shop or pub and limited public transport.

There are also serious concerns in Thetford, a town with a population of about 26,000.

Its town council has written to the Home Office warning of the "wider implications for community safety, policing capacity, healthcare provision, transport infrastructure and other local public services".

This week, Suffolk's Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore and his Norfolk counterpart, Reform's Colin Sutton, both urged residents in Barnham to campaign against the plans.

Breckland Council is another opponent, while Scott Hussey, one of the leading members of the Reform-run Norfolk County Council, accused the Home Office of trying to "rush" through the plans.

And while the recent anti-immigration protests in Thetford were about suspected asylum seekers being housed in the town itself, residents have told the BBC the RAF Barnham proposal stoked tensions.

Following the protests, the plans came up repeatedly when the BBC spoke to townspeople.

What really rankled, they said, was that there had been no consultation about placing migrants at the base – or in the town.

"We've been ignored," one resident said.

The Norfolk and Suffolk police forces have also objected, warning the loss of the base would pose a "critical risk" to their specialist training.

Additionally, they warned of "heightened community tension and unrest" from the use of the base as asylum accommodation.

The government is.

Border security and asylum minister Alex Norris said: "We are moving asylum seekers into ex-military sites that are a far cry from the hotels the last government left us with.

"This is a system being brought back under control – and we will not stop until the job is done."

Plans for MOD Bicester in Oxfordshire were soon met with a protest while local politicians have promised to fight proposals for RAF Linton-on-Ouse near York.

The expansion plans for Wethersfield have led to mixed views amongst residents living nearby.

But the Conservative MP and former home secretary James Cleverley said increasing the population at the base was "completely wrong".

"I am going to look at avenues, legal [and] political to get this site closed down," he added.

The Home Office has submitted what is called an Urgent Crown Development application because it clearly wants to move quickly.

It is unclear at this stage as to how soon its fellow government department, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, will make a decision.

However, when police gave their warning against the plan – they indicated they had been told by the government they would have to stop using the site for specialist training within weeks.

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