East Sussex site chosen to house asylum seekers - here's all we know so far

The site that has been chosen is a former prison complex in Bexhill called Northeye.

The prison was in operation from 1969 to 1992.

It was formerly the site of a Royal Air Force Mobile Radio Unit which housed reserve equipment for the Chain Home radar station at Pevensey.

It then became a radar station itself, but was decommissioned in 1964. It was subsequently opened as a Category C training prison in January 1969.

It was one of the prisons which took part in the prison strike organised by Preservation of the Rights of Prisoners in 1972.

More recently, the site was the home of the United Arab Emirates technical training project, which closed in 2019.

The project was based on the site of the former Northeye prison at the end of Wartling Drive since 1993.

Robert Jenrick, the Immigration Minister, announced the news today (Wednesday, March 29) in the Commons that three sites are to be repurposed to accommodate migrants and cut down on the use of hotels for asylum seekers.

As reported by the BBC, the minister said ex-military bases in Lincolnshire and Essex, plus the Northeye site in Bexhill, could house ‘several thousand’ asylum seekers.

Mr Jenrick also said the Government is ‘exploring the possibility’ of using disused ferries but no firm decision has been taken as yet.

East Sussex County Council and Rother District Council have issued a joint statement following today’s news about the Northeye site.

It said: “People in our communities are likely to have many questions about the government’s plans to house asylum seekers at the Northeye site in Bexhill, a former prison and military training centre.

“Rother District Council and East Sussex County Council will work together, and with all our local partners, to understand and assess in more detail the impact this would have on local communities.

“We will also share this analysis with the government and work with them to ensure the Home Office addresses all issues identified.”

East Sussex site chosen by Government to house asylum seekers is revealed