Set up ‘camps' to house asylum seekers, suggests Badenoch

Telegraph

4 hours ago

Camps should be set up to house asylum seekers in Britain as an alternative to hotel accommodation, Kemi Badenoch has suggested.
The Conservative Party leader indicated that she would support housing migrants in 'camps', rather than in hotels or rental accommodation in local communities.
Mrs Badenoch made the remarks to protesters outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, where an Ethiopian asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a schoolgirl days after arriving in Britain.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, denied the charge when he appeared at Chelmsford magistrates' court and has been remanded in custody.
Speaking on Monday, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Is it possible for us to set up camps and police that, rather than bringing all of this hassle into communities?
'As a party, we need to also hear from the community about what you think the solutions are. We don't have all the answers; it's important that we make sure that the community is part of the problem solved.
'We've got to turn things around very quickly. We cannot use rules from 1995, or 2005, or even 2015 for 2025. Our world is changing very quickly, and we need to adapt to it.'
Sir Keir Starmer vowed on Monday that anyone who came to the country illegally 'will face detention and return'.
The Prime Minister wrote on X: 'If you come to this country and commit a crime, we will deport you as soon as possible.'
In response, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Just been in Epping where illegal arrivals are in hotels, not detention.
'So why say this? Locals told me about behaviour they see daily: Women afraid to go for runs in the park as men lurk in bushes. Schoolkids harassed to and from school…'
She added: 'People want action not empty words.'
A Labour Party spokesman said: 'Kemi Badenoch's latest remarks are deeply concerning and ignore the reality that hotel use for asylum seekers skyrocketed under the Conservatives.
'It was their failure to tackle people-smuggling gangs that allowed them to take hold of our borders - resulting in a £9 million daily bill and the opening of over 400 asylum hotels.
'While the Tories demonstrate they haven't learnt anything from 14 years of failure and Reform shout from the sidelines, offering anger but no answers, this Labour government is focused on delivery.
'We remain committed to ending hotel use by the end of this Parliament and are taking firm action to secure our borders, with an additional £100 million investment in border security announced just last week.'
The Conservative Party leader pledged on Monday that with the Tories under new leadership, their 'policy is simple'. 'Deport all foreign criminals and illegal arrivals. No ifs, no buts,' she said. 'This is the only way to stop the boats and end the pull factors for illegal migration.'
Last summer riots took place outside asylum hotels across the country following the murder of three young girls in Southport.
Less violent protests have also taken place this summer, sparked by an alleged sexual assault of a schoolgirl in Epping, Essex, in July. There have also been protests in Leeds, Portsmouth, Southampton and Nottinghamshire.
The Conservative party last week set out proposals under which any asylum seeker caught working illegally would have their claim automatically rejected and immediately deported.
All wages gained from the individual working illegally would be seized and used to cover the cost of any asylum support they received.
In June, Mrs Badenoch also said that Britain was being 'mugged' under the current asylum system.
There are more than 200 hotels across the UK used to house those seeking asylum, with still more asylum seekers housed in private rentals.
Last week the Telegraph disclosed at least 200 people living in asylum seeker hotels have been charged with criminal offences this year, without police revealing their immigration status.
Court records show that 211 people living in the hotels, which are used by the Home Office to house asylum seekers, have been charged with a combined 425 offences.
Of these, 109 were violent offences and 44 were sexual offences, including four counts of alleged rape. There were also 63 theft-related offences.
Mrs Badenoch made the remarks in Epping, where she also asked local residents and businesses how the asylum hotel was affecting them.
A stallholder called Andy, 75, who spoke with her during her visit, said: 'She was asking me about the hotel problem. It can affect trade down here, which I think it has to a certain extent.'
He added: 'It's good (she came). Someone's trying to do something about it.'
Various camps have been set up in northern France by migrants trying to cross the Channel. The Calais 'jungle' camp was bulldozed by authorities in 2016, but number of asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats has continued to soar.
In May Reform UK's first mayor called for migrants to be housed in tents instead of hotels.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the first elected mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, made the comment as she called for 'an end to soft touch Britain' in her victory speech following the local elections. She said: 'I say no to putting people in hotels. Tents are good enough for France, they should be good enough for here in Britain.'