Police chiefs have written to the Home Office to warn that its plan to house asylum seekers at an RAF base in Suffolk poses "significant operational implications". Local councillors also voted unanimously to pass a motion which said the site was unsuitable to house asylum seekers. There have been numerous protests outside of former military sites used to house asylum seekers. However, the Home Office defended the decision to explore more disused military bases amid the spiralling costs of hotels housing asylum seekers. The population of asylum seekers in hotels has fallen by 35% in the last year and by 63% from the peak of 56,000 in 2023.