Home Office wants to send asylum seekers to remote South Atlantic islands

As migrants continue to cross the English Channel illegally, British officials are looking at more and more unorthodox methods to stem the tide.

A Home Office source has told the BBC that the idea of “offshoring” people is being looked at but identifying a “suitable location” is proving to be a challenge.

According to the Financial Times (September 30), the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has asked her officials to look at sending asylum seekers to isolated islands in the South Atlantic Ocean.

The Home Office is reportedly looking at Ascension and St Helena islands, both of which are more than 7,000 KM from the UK. The two islands – located between South America and Africa - are under British authority.

Foreign Office opposition 

It is being reported the Foreign Office is opposed to the idea after carrying out an assessment for Ascension Island, which included looking at the practicalities of transferring migrants from Britain to a remote spot in the South Atlantic.  

Foreign Office opposition notwithstanding, the Home Office appears determined to find an “offshore” solution. A Home Office source has told the BBC that “ministers” are looking at “every option that can stop small boat crossings and fix the asylum system”.

More opposition 

But the plan is meeting stiff opposition from multiple quarters, including opposition parties, officials from the South Atlantic islands and the United Nations.

Labour's shadow home secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds, told the BBC: "This ludicrous idea is inhumane, completely impractical and wildly expensive - so it seems entirely plausible this Tory government came up with it".

Meanwhile, Alan Nicholls, a member of the Ascension Island council, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that moving asylum seekers more than 7,000 KM to the British overseas territory would be a "logistical nightmare" which would not be well received by the islanders.

Nicholls also claimed that the presence of military bases on the island could make the concept "prohibitive" due to security concerns.

It is believed the Home Office leadership is inspired by similar “offshoring” models employed by other countries, notably Australia.

Since September 2012 the Australian government has forcibly transferred more than 3,000 asylum seekers who traveled there by boat to camps on Papua New Guinea and Nauru.  

UN alarm 

However, a United Nations official has expressed concern at UK plans to emulate Australia’s highly controversial offshore asylum processing system.

A United Nations Refugee Agency representative to the UK, Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor, told the British Parliament the proposal would breach the UK's obligations to asylum seekers and would "change what the UK is - its history and its values".

Speaking to the House of Commons’ Home Affairs Select Committee, Pagliuchi-Lor said the Australian model had "brought about huge suffering for people, who are guilty of no more than seeking asylum, and it has also cost huge amounts of money".

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