Residents chanted ‘Starmer out’ as thousands attended a protest against plans to house 600 lone male asylum seekers at an army camp on the edge of their town.
Crowborough army training camp in East Sussex has been lined up to house the refugees as part of Labour’s bid to reduce the use of asylum hotels.
Locals said they have already installed panic alarms in their homes amid safety fears, while also raising concerns about the 600 migrants registering with GPs in the county, with some already struggling to book appointments.
Today’s march, which around 2,000 people attended, followed an angry public meeting where local politicians were shouted at and chased out of the community centre hall on Thursday night.
Residents walked through the town with their children to demand the government drops its plan to use the army camp for male migrants.
Refugee status will become temporary and subject to regular review, with refugees removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe.
There will be a 20-year wait to apply for permanent settlement and the right to support, including housing and weekly allowances, will be revoked.
But Kim Bailey, Chair of Crowborough Shield – a grassroots organisation which has challenged the Home Office – said proposed changes to asylum laws will not change anything in her town.
’20 years sounds reasonable, but it won’t make any difference to our current situation,’ she said.
‘It won’t make any difference to what happens here.
Crowborough Shield has so far raised more than £12,000 to fund legal action.
‘I’m in constant contact with out legal team and I’m confident we can get it stopped,’ Ms Bailey said.
‘The strength of feeling is just incredible. Their whole plan is wrong.’
The Home Office proposal would see the army camp on the edge of the East Sussex town become a holding area for 600 single men.
The barracks were previously used to accommodate Afghan families evacuated during the withdrawal from Kabul in 2021 before they were resettled elsewhere.
The camp itself has a proud history going back to the war when it was used by Canadian forces preparing for D-Day.
Locals said they are installing panic alarms in their homes over safety fears.
‘It’s absurd what they are doing,’ Ms Bailey said. ‘Vulnerable men from war torn countries, to Crowborough?
‘You have the police firearms training centre and a public shooting range right there.
‘People with PTSD who will be hearing gunshots all the time will be triggered by it and they are going to try to escape that environment.
‘These are unvetted men, we don’t know who they are.’
Crowborough has a population of just over 20,000. It borders Ashdown Forest, home of Winnie the Pooh.
‘This is a very rural area, surrounded by tree and forest,’ Ms Bailey said.
‘If crimes were to happen, they are going to go unheard.
‘The camp itself is not safe, locals believe. They are patching up and painting over the asbestos in the camp.
‘These men are going to become a burden on the NHS and if they are deported, they are going to die a long, slow, horrible death from the asbestos.
‘The key point is the Home Office has not done its due diligence on the site. The water system is a health hazard.
‘This is all the stuff they do not want anyone to see.’
The Home Office has earmarked Crowborough as a site to house 600 men for 12 months.
‘We do not believe them, we know full well it is not going to be for only 12 months,’ Ms Bailey said.
‘Why are they spending millions on it if it’s only going to be there for 12 months?
‘How can they justify spending all that money if it’s only going to be used for 12 months.
‘You can’t get planning permission to build a house because of the environmental impact and they are going to move 600 men in? It’s hypocrisy.’
Speakers at the rally, which followed the march, called for the community to stand together.
Ms Bailey told the crowd: ‘This is our town. We are real people, we are just residents who have never done anything like this before.
‘We need to stand together.
‘Crowborough is setting the stage for what is to come.’
Kerrie Knight, a Pink Lady organiser from Kent, said: ‘This is not about race or religion, this is about love.
‘This is about risk and safety, this is about common sense.
‘Something our leadership does not have.’
Another protest is planned for next weekend.
Local independent councillor Andrew Wilson said: ‘We all need to come out every weekend until we can turn this thing around.’
NHS Sussex previously said it was working to meet the immediate health needs of the community. It is understood migrants would be registered with local GPs for specialist car but primary care would be provided on site or virtually, according to the BBC.
