The village of Barnham has a population of around 600. – housing 1,250 men would more than triple its size.
Protests in Barnham last month (Image: Getty Images)
Home Office plans to house up to 1,250 single male asylum seekers at a former RAF base have prompted deep anger and fear among residents of a rural Suffolk community. RAF Barnham, sold off by the Ministry of Defence in the 1960s, is one of three military sites earmarked for large-scale asylum accommodation.
The Government confirmed the proposal in June, with portacabins and existing blocks earmarked for the men. Two other bases – MoD Bicester in Oxfordshire and MoD Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire – are also under consideration. If approved, Barnham would operate for at least a decade as part of plans to accommodate 3,750 asylum seekers across the three sites.
A general view of RAF Barnham in Thetford (Image: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
Local opposition has been fierce and sustained. Flags and banners line the perimeter reading “No illegals now or ever”, “Stop the boats. Stop the problem” and “Unvetted foreign men: we are afraid to walk our streets at night”. Weekly peaceful protests have continued since June.
Clinton Warner, 37, who lives and runs a used-car business opposite the site, told the i newspaper: “There is a general concern that you’re taking potentially 1,300 people, and you’re going to put them there. You have no control of them. You’re going to allow them to wander around local towns.” He pointed to nearby US air bases at Mildenhall and Lakenheath as heightening security worries.
The village of Barnham has a population of around 600. Housing 1,250 men would more than triple its size. Residents living a few miles away in Thetford still bear the scars of violent disorder last month, when anti-migrant crowds targeted homes believed to house asylum seekers. Occupants fled, two police officers were injured and 19 people were arrested over three nights of trouble. Dried egg yolk still coats windows; a smashed pane remains unrepaired.
Wayne Berry, 50, called the Barnham plan “disgusting”. She explained: “Undocumented men, turning up, and so close to town. I wouldn’t be happy about it.”
A 29-year-old dog walker said she would fear walking alone at night, saying: “It’s the fact you don’t know their history. That’s the scary part. There’s no documentation.”
Not all locals oppose the idea outright. Toby Lucken, 29, said he would accept the camp if the Government “did a good job”, branding the Thetford violence “disgusting” and “terrorising individual people”.
An anonymous Thetford resident said the men forced from their home “were never any problem”, though she remains unhappy at the potential cost to local taxpayers.
West Suffolk Council leader Cliff Waterman, a Labour councillor, has written to ministers arguing the development would breach laws protecting endangered birds nesting near the site and must be stopped.
Reform councillor Scott Hussey said Home Office officials refused to guarantee a cap on numbers and warned that approval or the first arrivals risk becoming “a huge potential flashpoint”.
The Home Office has submitted an Urgent Crown Development application that overrides normal local planning rules. A spokesperson said community concerns are “central” to reforms that are closing asylum hotels and moving people into alternative sites including former military bases, while engaging with councils to reduce local impact.
A public meeting is scheduled in Barnham this week as tensions continue to simmer.