The Home Office was forced to abandon its negotiations after the fan cabins were deemed to be of “too low quality.”
The United Kingdom’s main office has looked into possibly buying Qatar’s World Cup fan cabins to house migrants and asylum seekers arriving at the country’s borders, The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
At least 45,000 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats to reach British shores since January, leaving the UK Home Office with a large number of migrants to handle.
The Home Office has reportedly considered purchasing “fan cabins,” which were created especially to house World Cup fans during the competition in Qatar, as a lodging option for migrants, according to the newspaper.
A Home Office spokesman told The Daily Telegraph that “the number of people arriving in the UK who seek asylum and require accommodation has reached record levels, placing unprecedented pressures on the asylum system.”
“It is right that the government explores a range of options to ensure we are providing safe, appropriate accommodation for the people we are responsible for,” the spokesman added.
However, the fan cabins were deemed to be of “too low quality,” so the plan was scrapped and negotiations stalled.
Bizarrely, the UK instead opted to use low-quality tents that will leave hundreds of migrants cold and without proper shelter during the rainy season.
Thousands of World Cup fans stayed at fan villages across Qatar during the tournament, as a more budget friendly option. Footage and photos that emerged online by visitors reviewing the accommodation facility showed clean interiors, bathrooms and in some, air conditioning units.
While some fans appeared to be satisfied with the accommodation, others complained of costs to rent during the peak tournament time.
On Wednesday, the UK’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the government was looking for alternatives to hotels, such as using abandoned cruise ships, military installations, and vacation parks.
No updates have yet been made regarding the matter.
Currently, the UK spends £5.5 million per day to house more than 40,000 migrants in hotels, while in neighboring France, the government only provides housing for half of the asylum seekers, leaving the other migrants to live in improvised camps.
According to Migration Watch, a non-governmental organisation that is keeping an eye on the migrant crisis in Britain told The Daily Telegraph “the UK’s overly permissive asylum rules are an outlier compared with most of Europe and are adding to the powerful magnet that draws thousands of asylum rejects from all over Europe across the Channel in dangerous boat trips.”