GB News interrupted its programming for a breaking news update on the illegal migration crisis, with Home and Security Editor Mark White reporting new figures showing over half of asylum seekers in the year to June 2026 arrived by small boat.
Hotel numbers fall by half
White argued part of the announcement should be "welcomed," as the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels fell to 16,022 in the year to June 2026, a 50 per cent drop compared to the previous year. When the situation peaked in 2023, as many as 56,000 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels.
White continued: "The flip side of this is that the vast majority of asylum seekers who are having to be accommodated by the state are in dispersal accommodation. 73,000 asylum seekers in dispersal accommodation right across the countries."
Concerns over dispersal accommodation
He explained that when migrants were in hotels, the public knew where they were and could stay away from the area if they wished. "Someone that's in an HMO, maybe half a dozen or more asylum seekers are just in a house right next door to you potentially which is of very great concern to communities right across the countries," he remarked.
White said the Labour government is keen on using old military bases to house asylum seekers before issuing an update on two of the most "controversial" military bases.
Military base numbers revealed
"The Wethersfield, former RAF base, in Essex, as of June, there are now 744 asylum seekers in that one camp. Anybody that knows Wethersfield, it's a tiny little community," he revealed. "744 bored, young men looking for something to do. Obviously, people in that area are concerned."
He went on: "The other camp that we know about, the former army base at Crowborough in East Sussex, that has now risen to 416 asylum seekers." He added that residents of Crowborough are so concerned they have put their own patrols in place.
Facilities questioned
GB News presenter Andrew Pierce revealed that one of the camps, believed to be the site in Wethersfield, provides migrants with a range of facilities, including an NHS centre, gym, football pitch, mobile phones and 17 minibuses transporting them to and from the local town. "Why are they having their own mobile phones? Why are we paying for it?" he asked.
White said these are "legitimate" questions about the money British taxpayers are putting towards illegal migrants.
