Inverness finds itself at the forefront of Britain’s bitter feud over asylum accommodation, with up to 300 migrants set to be sent to the small city in the Scottish Highlands.
The Home Office has been accused of imposing its plan to use a military site called Cameron Barracks – located on the edge of the town centre – without properly preparing the community.
The arrival of the asylum seekers threatens to divide the community. Amid concerns about the added pressure to overstretched services, some local politicians and residents have claimed the men, living without families, could put women at risk.
Others argue that this idea is “scaremongering” and “dog whistle” politics.
The Bell Hotel in Epping became a flashpoint for protests last summer after an Ethiopian asylum seeker housed there sexually assaulted a teenage girl. Hadush Kebatu was jailed, mistakenly released, captured and then deported.
Sympathetic campaigners, who have condemned the use of military facilities as “cruel”, are worried about the condition of the barracks.
Pro-immigration protesters in Inverness send welcome messages (Photo: Peter Jolly/Northpix)Prior to the general election, Sir Keir Starmer called the use of ex-military sites for asylum housing “unsustainable” and promised to close them down.
But earlier this week, his Government began sending the first new arrivals to Crowborough training camp, with plans to house up to 500 people at the East Sussex site.
Labour – having promised to close asylum hotels by 2029 – claims that using such isolated sites can act as a deterrent by discouraging people from making small boat crossings.
‘Wrong plan in the wrong place’
MPs, MSPs and councillors in Inverness have pointed out that Cameron Barracks is not rural or remote like the ex-military sites being used south of the border.
The Victorian encampment, built in the 1880s, is found at the top of a hill just outside the busy town centre. Housing, shops and Raigmore Hospital are nearby.
The barracks, which acted as a Ministry of Defence (MoD) training facility in recent years, also briefly housed around 150 Afghans refugees under a resettlement scheme between 2024 and 2025.
Cameron Barracks in Inverness will house up to 300 asylum seekers (Photo: The i Paper)Initial plans to move the asylum seekers to Inverness in November were delayed until January at the earliest.
The Home Office has said people will be “free to come and go” from the site whenever they do arrive – but has promised criminality background checks.
The barracks is “the wrong plan in the wrong place”, said local Conservative councillor Isabelle MacKenzie. She is worried about the pressure on GPs and the NHS in Inverness, which has a population of just under 50,000.
“It’s not just that we don’t want unknown people here, we just don’t have the services for this,” she told The i Paper. “The lack of information from the Home Office is a slap in the face.”
MacKenzie said around 150 military families are living in the area close to the barracks. Some women, she said, have reached out to share fears about their safety when their husbands are working away from home.
Edward Mountain, the Tory and Unionist MSP for the Highlands and Islands, agrees. “I think there are legitimate concerns about safety. It’s a huge amount of single men.”
He claimed: “They will have nothing to do, except hanging around the streets in the town centre.”
‘Dog-whistle politics of the right’
But Green Party councillor Chris Ballance thinks this kind of talk is deeply unfair to asylum seekers expected to arrive in the weeks ahead.
“It’s absolutely scaremongering [to talk about the threat to women],” he said. “It’s standard dog-whistle politics of the right, used against foreigners of a different colour.”
Labour councillor Michael Gregson agrees. “The knee-jerk populist response, speaking as though asylum seekers are criminals, is just not appropriate or unacceptable in 2026.”
Residents are uneasy. Speaking to people on Inverness High Street reveals a split between those unhappy about the plans, and those hoping the city can adapt.
“They [the asylum seekers] have to go somewhere, so it’s nimbyism to say it can’t be Inverness,” said one local resident.
A woman who did not wish to be named said: “I’m raging – it’s a disgrace having so many [people] coming in at once.”
Divided views on ‘cruel’ use of barracks
Alan McTear, 65, is also against the plan. “I worry there could be trouble, if you have 300 men hanging around the streets. People will feel intimidated.”
Alan McTear thinks Inverness residents will feel intimidated by asylum seekers (Photo: The i Paper)“I don’t have a problem using the barracks – I don’t think there’s anything cruel about that,” McTear added. “It’s free housing. Maybe if we stopped giving things for free, maybe you wouldn’t have so many of them coming.”
But Lorna Macrae, 59, said: “They’re coming from war-torn countries and traumatic situations, so I wouldn’t want them to feel unwelcome.
“Good luck to them, I say. If they’re not housed here, then where?”
Lorna Macrae thinks vulnerable people should be made to feel welcome (Photo: The i Paper)Tomos Hawksworth, a 27-year-old community gardener, said he did not like the Government policy of using ex-military sites.
But he wants Inverness to be a “welcoming place” for asylum seekers. “I would hope they can be supported, rather than feeling cut off.
“It seems cruel to put people in old barracks,” he added. “It’s performative cruelty. It’s unlikely to stop people coming, because they are fleeing persecution.”
The i Paper previously reported how people living in barracks elsewhere had to cope with outside toilets and showers, heating problems, as well rats, leaking toilets and flooded halls.
Tomos Hawksworth thinks using military barracks is cruel (Photo: Supplied)Rival protests and plans for Ceilidh dances
Inverness, like so many parts of the country, has seen opposing rallies over the asylum issue in recent months.
An anti-illegal immigration group called Peterhead United held a demonstration outside the barracks in December.
Beth McKenzie – an organiser of the Highlands Against Hate counter-protest – said fellow activists were discussing how to welcome asylum seekers with Ceilidh dances or meals.
“It’s not asylum seekers’ fault that they are having to escape terrible things,” said the 27-year-old from Inverness. “It’s not their fault we have a housing crisis. I think some in the community are angry at the wrong people.”
Inverness has seen opposing rallies over the asylum issue (Photo: Peter Jolly/Northpix)Refugee charities have campaigned against the use of former military camps. They say that such sites have proved “squalid” and isolating, since they leave people cut off from ordinary life in the UK.
Ballance agrees with charity leaders that migrants should be housed in the community. “It’s a barracks, for heaven’s sake – not luxury accommodation,” said the Green politician.
Some are still hoping for a U-turn on Cameron Barracks. Labour’s asylum minister Alex Norris said in letter to local MSP Fergus Ewing that “no final decision has been made”. Yet the Home Office has also said in recent days that it was accelerating plans to move people to the barracks.
Major refurbishment work costing £1.3m was set to begin at the 140-year-old site in January, according to The Times. Home Office sources told the newspaper that essential safety work could delay plans to move asylum seekers in.
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The SNP, although keen to be seen as welcoming refugees, has condemned the lack of clarity and consultation on Cameron Barracks. First Minister John Swinney said the Home Office plans appeared to be made up “on the back of an envelope”.
A Home Office spokesperson said work is “well underway” to close asylum hotels “with more suitable sites, such as military bases, being brought forward”. They said they were “working closely” with partners to accelerate delivery.
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