Accommodation sites announced

The government announced this week the first
sites for its accommodation centres for asylum seekers.

It is
to apply for planning permission to build accommodation on surplus
land at the Defence Storage and Distribution Centre in Bicester,
Oxfordshire; RAF Newton in Nottinghamshire; and Throck-morton
Airfield in Worcestershire. It plans to accommodate up to 3,000
asylum seekers in at least four accommodation centres across
Britain.

Making
the announcement, Home Office minister Lord Rooker said that
dealing with asylum seekers was a national issue and should be
shared by the whole of the country not just London and the south
east.

He
denied that the accommodation centres would not be welcome by the
local people.

The
Home Office is continuing to evaluate other sites in Edinburgh,
Glamorgan and Lincolnshire.