𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Home Office has been accused of encouraging violent protests by failing to tell residents and local politicians the truth about a camp housing hundreds of asylum seekers. Excessive secrecy surrounding a former army training camp at Crowborough, East Sussex, risks provoking “injury to people and property”, MPs have been told. The allegation was made by leaders of Wealden District Council, the local authority responsible for the area, which accused the Home Office of bussing asylum seekers into the site at 3am.

James Partridge, the council’s Deputy Leader, said: “Using sites for this purpose will meet strong local opposition and is, operationally, a complicated undertaking. This may explain why, in Crowborough’s case, the Home Office was so secretive. The result of this was to create uncertainty and a situation which: carries a high risk of public disorder and injury to people and property; has created distrust in local and national government; and makes most local people very uneasy and a significant number afraid.”

There have been regular demonstrations against the Home Office’s plans since they were first announced in October. The site will eventually house 540 asylum seekers, who will be free to come and go, but it is unclear how many are currently there as the Home Office says it will not provide a “live commentary”.

The camp is part of the Government’s attempt to find new homes for the 21,000 asylum seekers still residing in hotels.

But Coun Partridge, a Liberal Democrat who was council leader until May, said the Home Office initially refused to provide details about its plans and allowed rumours to circulate, leading to growing “community anger”.

He said the Home Office promised to provide at least seven days notice before any asylum seekers arrived, and to work with the council on a plan to inform local residents what was happening.

But in a letter to the Commons Home Affairs Committee, he said: “What transpired was the complete opposite. On the 21 January 2026, the Minister telephoned the Council Leader to inform him that he had made the decision to use the camp and that first asylum seekers would be arriving at the camp within days.

“At 3am the next morning, just a matter of hours later, under the cover of darkness, the site was made operational and the first asylum seekers were bussed into the camp.

“As we and our local public sector partners had been warning the Home Office, this worsened community tension and increased the public’s doubt about whether they can believe what we or they are told by the Home Office or, by implication, any of the local agencies.”

Home Affairs Minister Alex Norris, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, has been summoned by the Committee to answer questions on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, MPs published a report raising serious concerns around the operation and management of asylum accommodation contracts. It found that the system had struggled to cope with a surge in demand for asylum accommodation, and hotels went from a temporary stop-gap to the backbone of the asylum accommodation system.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “This government is removing the incentives drawing illegal migrants to Britain. That is why we will close every single asylum hotel, moving asylum seekers into basic accommodation like the Crowborough military site and working closely with local authorities as part of this transition.

“The population in asylum hotels has fallen by nearly 20% in the last year and by 45% since the peak under the previous government – helping reduce asylum support costs by nearly £1 billion.”