SMALL boat migrants arriving at a converted RAF base in Essex will be able to use a indoor basketball court and gym.
The first 50 asylum seekers arrived at the former Wethersfield Airfield air base today – where they will stay for up to nine months for their claims to be processed.
The gym will also be available for migrants to use while they wait to have their claims processed
They will have a basketball court to use in their free time
The site is holding 50 people at the moment – but will be ramped up to 1,700
Inside Wethersfield in Essex, a 335-hectare airfield owned by the Ministry of Defence
They will enjoy three meals a day, a multi-faith centre, and free bus rides out to the local area.
Every arrival will get a welcome pack with toiletries and details on “what it is to be a good neighbour” – with sessions provided on how to integrate into the community.
Up to 1,700 adult single men are expected to be held at the site, which will be manned with CCTV 24/7.
Ministers are setting up new mass sites to hold migrants in a bid to wean the Home Office off pricey taxpayer hotels, at a huge cost of £6million a day.
RAF Scampton in Lincs — home to the World War Two Dambusters — plus Wethersfield in Essex and the site of a former prison at Northeye, East Sussex, will offer basic accommodation with 24-hour security.
PM Rishi Sunak is also in talks to keep migrants at Catterick Garrison barracks in his Yorkshire constituency in a bid to win over the rebellious Tories.
Braintree Council is getting £3,500 per migrant in extra cash in a bid to woo them over, and additional NHS funding for on-site doctors.
The Bibby Stockholm Barge is still being prepared to accommodate small boat migrants in Dorset – expected to begin by the end of the month.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, said yesterday: “Those individuals who have entered the UK illegally shouldn’t be given hotel accommodation at great expense to the taxpayer.
“That’s why our large disused military sites and vessels will provide basic and functional accommodation for small boat arrivals whilst we pursue their removal.
The first people arrived at the facility today
Inside the welcome centre where asylum seekers will stay for up to nine months
Information provided to arrivals at the new large scale site
Inside the medical centre onsite
“We have committed substantial financial support to local councils and we remain committed to working with key stakeholders to ensure these sites have as little impact as possible for communities.
“Ultimately the best way to relieve pressures on communities is to stop the boats in the first place. Our Stop the Boats Bill will ensure illegal entrants to the UK can be detained and swiftly removed.”
RAF Scampton will hold the first of 2,000 asylum seekers this summer.
It comes as the Lords are set to start their attempts to wreck the small boats bill yet again.
MPs and Peers are now locked in a game of ping pong as they wrangle over changes to the law.
Insiders expect the Lords to push back on modern slavery – in an ongoing row about cracking down on migrants using the excuse to try and stay in the country.
And there could be more concessions to come on promising not to send gay people to countries where they could be at risk of persecution.
The Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge is in Falmouth, Cornwall, to undergo inspection
