More migrant arrivals expected at Wethersfield RAF station

The Home Office is expected to start increasing the number of migrants living at a former RAF station by 50%.

MDP Wethersfield in Essex has been home to hundreds of single male asylum seekers since July 2023.

There are about 800 men at the accommodation, but as of Thursday (31 July), Braintree District Council expects this to begin rising to 1,245.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “All use of property or sites under our ownership is carried out in accordance with relevant planning permissions.”

The council expects an increase of 60 new arrivals each week.

Wethersfield houses more asylum seekers than any other location in the UK.

Only single adult males are housed at MDP Wethersfield, and most have arrived by boat.

In a letter to people who live near the base in north Essex, the Home Office said: “The contingency bed spaces will only be utilised on a temporary basis until such time as the wider accommodation estate is able to manage demand.”

Braintree council expects numbers to start reducing back to 800 in October.

The local authority’s Conservative leader, Graham Butland, said the government was sending more asylum seekers to Wethersfield “due to record small boat arrivals”.

The Home Office says it has halved the use of hotels to house asylum seekers since 2023, from more than 400 to fewer than 210.

The former Tory home secretary and Braintree MP James Cleverly told the BBC earlier this year that using hotels would be better and cheaper than the military site in his constituency. His former department refuted this.

Asylum seekers have been staying at Wethersfield for an average of 81 days before moving elsewhere in the UK. There have been protests and fights by migrants at the site.

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman was found to have acted unlawfully by accommodating three asylum seekers there, and some charities have described conditions as “prison-like”.

Butland, whose council has opposed to use of the base because of its rural location, said: “We will continue to monitor the situation and hold the Home Office to account to ensure that the site runs safely alongside the local community.”

A Home Office spokesperson added: “We work together with local authorities and other stakeholders to ensure the accommodation estate is continuously reviewed and managed safely and effectively at all times.”