Military barracks to be used to house asylum seekers

Published

6 hours ago

October 28, 2025

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The Home Office has confirmed that hundreds of migrants will be moved to military sites as the government tries to stop the use of asylum hotels.

About 900 men will be temporarily based at Cameron Barracks in Inverness, and Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are furious at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels. This government will close every asylum hotel.

“Work is well under way, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities and cut asylum costs.”

Industrial sites, temporary facilities and disused accommodation are also being considered as officials step up work to find alternatives.

The plans – first mooted by the defence secretary last month – have been confirmed ahead of the expected deportation of an asylum seeker who was accidentally released while serving a sentence for sexual offences.

Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday – sparking a manhunt – with the Metropolitan Police arresting him in Finsbury Park on Sunday.

Justice Secretary David Lammy has confirmed there will be an independent investigation into what happened and said “human error” was to blame for the incident.

Pressure on jail staff ‘intolerable’

But the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) has warned it will “not accept any scapegoating of staff” – and claims it has highlighted “a severe lack of training” for at least a decade.

Mark Fairhurst, the union’s national chair, said: “The pressure on staff is intolerable, and this will inevitably lead to mistakes.

“These issues should have been addressed a long time ago, but as usual, our employer waits for a headline and then acts.”

The POA has warned this could happen again in the future because prisons are understaffed and overcrowded.

One member of staff at HMP Chelmsford has been suspended pending an investigation, with some MPs calling for the prison’s governor to step down if they are found at fault.

Kebatu was found guilty in September of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping – about a week after he arrived in the UK on a small boat.

He had been staying at The Bell Hotel, which was being used to accommodate asylum seekers, and the case sparked weeks of protests over the summer.

‘Urgent review’ ordered

In the Commons yesterday, Mr Lammy said he was “livid” on behalf of Kebatu’s victims – and vowed he would be deported back to Ethiopia “as quickly as possible”.

He dismissed Conservative MPs who asked whether he would resign over the issue, describing this as a “ridiculous question”.

The deputy prime minister added he has ordered an “urgent review” into the checks that take place when an offender is freed, and new safeguards have been added.

From now on, foreign criminals facing deportation will only be able to be released when a duty governor is physically present.

But with a prison service source telling Sky’s Mollie Malone that these checks could take staff an extra 30 to 40 minutes, former governor Pia Sinha has warned: “The solution is not adding more administrative burden.”

Data shows 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error in the 12 months to March 2025 – a 128% increase on the previous year.

Politics

David Lammy blames ‘human error’ for release of migrant sex offender – as confirms independent investigation

Published

2 hours ago

October 28, 2025

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David Lammy blames 'human error' for release of migrant sex offender - as confirms independent investigation

David Lammy has confirmed there will be an independent investigation into the accidental release of a migrant jailed for sex offences, as he blamed “human error” for the incident.

The deputy prime minister and justice secretary told MPs he was “livid” on behalf of Hadush Kebatu’s victims and he would be deported back to Ethiopia “as quickly as possible”.

Politics latest: Epping MP calls on Lammy to commit to closing the Bell Hotel

Kebatu, who was found guilty in September of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping, was freed in error from HMP Chelmsford in Essex on Friday instead of being handed over to immigration officials for deportation.

His accidental release sparked widespread alarm and a manhunt that resulted in him being found and arrested by the Metropolitan Police in the Finsbury Park area of London at around 8.30am on Sunday.

The incident has sparked questions over how the man, whose crimes sparked protests in Epping over the use of asylum hotels, was able to be freed.

Addressing MPs in the House of Commons, Mr Lammy said the mistake should not have happened as he sought to lay part of the blame on to the Conservatives over the state of the prison system over the past 14 years.

He said “there must and there will be accountability” for the mistaken release of Kebatu from prison.

“I’ve been clear from the outset that a mistake of this nature is unacceptable,” he said.

“We must get to the bottom of what happened and take immediate action to try and prevent similar releases in error to protect the public from harm.”

Mr Lammy said he ordered an “urgent review” into the checks that take place when an offender is released from prison, and new safeguards have been added that amount to the “strongest release checks that have ever been in place”.

The justice secretary said the investigation would be led by former Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Dame Lynne Owens, who also used to lead the National Crime Agency.

He also said the investigation would have the same status as high-profile probes into other prison incidents, including the attack on three prison officers at HMP Franklin in April of this year and the escape of Daniel Khalife from HMP Wandsworth in 2023.

‘Calamity Lammy’

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick referred to a report by Sky News which detailed how a witness present at the prison observed Kebatu appearing “confused” upon his release.

The witness said Kebatu had in fact tried to go back into the prison several times, but was instead guided to Chelmsford station, where he caught a train to London.

Mr Jenrick claimed the case was proof “the only illegal migrants this government are stopping are those that actually want to leave the UK”.

“Dear oh dear,” he said. “Where to begin? This justice secretary could not deport the only small boat migrant who wanted – no – who tried to be deported.

“Having been mistakenly released, Hadush Kebatu came back to prison asking to be deported not once, not twice, but five times, but he was turned away.”

He went on: “The only illegal migrants this government are stopping are those that actually want to leave the UK.

“His officials, briefing the press, called it the mother of all – yeah, they’re not wrong, are they?”

Mr Jenrick, who served as immigration minister under the previous Conservative government, branded his opposite number “calamity Lammy”.

“It’s a national embarrassment and today the justice secretary feigns anger at what happened.”

Continuing with his attack, Mr Jenrick asked Mr Lammy whether he would resign if Kebatu was not deported “by the end of the week” – to which he received no reply.

But asked later by an MP whether he was considering his position, Mr Lammy replied: “A ridiculous question, the answer is no.”

The new checks announced by Mr Lammy on Monday involve five pages of instructions and require more senior prison staff to sign off a release, according to documents obtained by Sky News.

The instructions are effective from Monday.