The government has made an emergency purchase of tents to house migrants and asylum seekers, as part of plans to move asylum seekers out of hotels and reduce accommodation costs to the taxpayer. 

The policy has been labelled as "cruel" by a refugee charity and comes as the High Court ruled this week that the "routine" housing of unaccompanied child asylum seekers in hotels was unlawful and the system was "not fit for purpose". 

Sky's Lisa Holland reports.

Read more: https://news.sky.com/story/home-office-buys-marquees-to-house-migrants-ahead-of-expected-surge-in-channel-crossings-12928881

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It's not the first time the government is using giant tents to bolster its facilities to deal with asylum seekers.

Sky News filmed these pictures at Manston in Kent.

A source familiar with the processing centre said the site has been beefed up with new and improved marquees after huge criticism about conditions and overcrowding last year.

But with the recent arrival of the first asylum seekers at a former airbase in Essex, The Home Office is also planning to erect tents to provide accommodation at repurposed large sites like this, prompting anger from community leaders who work with migrants.

Well, they treat them as a second class citizen or obviously worse than human.

Obviously, what will they achieve if they put them in a hotel or decent accommodation?

They are human beings, let's treat them as human beings rather than treat them as animals.

More than 50, 000 asylum seekers are already being housed in hotels around the country and the government wants to avoid expensive last-minute bookings in the event of a surge in late summer channel crossings.

The government wants to reduce the £6 million a day it's spending on housing asylum seekers in hotels.

A Home Office source confirmed to me that the tents could be up and running to house some migrants within weeks.

But if the government thought the prospect of staying in a tent might be a deterrent.

We spoke to asylum seekers on their way back to hotel accommodation in the Midlands.

We compare things from here and our country.

That's why it's better than in our country.

If you thought you were going to be accommodated in a tent, would it have changed your mind about coming to the UK?

The government's strategy to reduce hotel accommodation also includes using a barge in Dorset.

Labour says the accommodation crisis must be resolved by dealing with people's claims.

There is long-standing asylum accommodation in this country which should be completely sufficient for everything we need that has been in place for very, very many years.

If they properly cleared the back rob, they wouldn't need to use any of these things.

The Home Office says all accommodation offered to asylum seekers meets its legal requirements, and migrants will have no choice where they're sent.


Speaker 0: It's not the first time the government is using giant tents to bolster its facilities to deal with asylum seekers. Sky News filmed these pictures at Manston in Kent. A source familiar with the processing centre said the site has been beefed up with new and improved marquees after huge criticism about conditions and overcrowding last year. But with the recent arrival of the first asylum seekers at a former airbase in Essex, The Home Office is also planning to erect tents to provide accommodation at repurposed large sites like this, prompting anger from community leaders who work with migrants.

Speaker 1: Well, they treat them as a second class citizen or obviously worse than human. Obviously, what will they achieve if they put them in a hotel or decent accommodation? They are human beings, let's treat them as human beings rather than treat them as animals.

Speaker 0: More than 50, 000 asylum seekers are already being housed in hotels around the country and the government wants to avoid expensive last-minute bookings in the event of a surge in late summer channel crossings.

Speaker 2: The government wants to reduce the £6 million a day it's spending on housing asylum seekers in hotels. A Home Office source confirmed to me that the tents could be up and running to house some migrants within weeks.

Speaker 0: But if the government thought the prospect of staying in a tent might be a deterrent. We found no evidence of that. We spoke to asylum seekers on their way back to hotel accommodation in the Midlands.

Speaker 3: This accommodation is very nice for us. It's better than... We compare things from here and our country. That's why it's better than in our country.

Speaker 0: If you thought you were going to be accommodated in a tent, would it have changed your mind about coming to the UK?

Speaker 3: I don't think so.

Speaker 0: You'd still have come?

Speaker 3: Yeah, I'd still have come.

Speaker 0: The government's strategy to reduce hotel accommodation also includes using a barge in Dorset. Labour says the accommodation crisis must be resolved by dealing with people's claims.

Speaker 4: There is long-standing asylum accommodation in this country which should be completely sufficient for everything we need that has been in place for very, very many years. If they properly cleared the back rob, they wouldn't need to use any of these things.

Speaker 0: The Home Office says all accommodation offered to asylum seekers meets its legal requirements, and migrants will have no choice where they're sent. Lisa Holland, Sky News. You

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Government plans to house channel migrants in tents labelled 'cruel' by charity