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A proposal discussed in the British Home Office that asylum seekers could be processed on Ascension Island has come as a shock to the inhabitants of the volcanic territory 4,437 km (4,000 miles) from the UK.
The idea seen within Priti Patel’s department that asylum seekers could be transferred to the British overseas territory in the South Atlantic has been derided as “inhumane” by critics at home.
But it was also dismissed today as an unworkable “logistical nightmare” by Ascension Island Council member Alan Nicholls.
He said he had only learned of the possibility when contacted by journalists and was concerned that security concerns over the presence of two military bases on the island could make it “prohibitive.”
“In terms of cost and logistics, we are more than 4,000 miles from the UK, I would have thought it would be extremely expensive and a logistical nightmare to bring asylum seekers here to Ascension due to the fact that we are very isolated and I don’t think it’s all it’s very doable, to be honest, “Nicholls told BBC Radio 4’s Today show.
He also spoke of concerns among the local population about the movement of migrants there during the coronavirus pandemic.
“There could be a huge influx of people and in this state and right now with pandemic closures and everything else, I don’t think anyone is very receptive to that,” the councilman said.
The Financial Times reported that the British Home Secretary had ordered officials to explore plans to build an asylum processing center on the island.
But a Home Office source tried to downplay it, saying Ms Patel had asked staff to explore how other nations process applications, and Australia is holding asylum seekers in detention centers on overseas islands.
The source said the Foreign Ministry was consulted, and that Ascension and Santa Elena, which are in the same island group, were proposed before being ruled out for being too far away.
Ascension Island, which is used as a foothold to supply and defend the Falkland Islands, has an RAF base and a population of less than 1,000.
Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “This ridiculous idea is inhumane, completely impractical, and outrageously expensive. Therefore, it seems entirely plausible that this conservative government invented it.”
SNP immigration spokesman in Westminster, Stuart McDonald, said the government’s treatment of migrants and asylum seekers was “completely toxic and inhumane.”
Ms Patel has vowed to prevent migrants from making the dangerous journey across the English Channel in small boats amid record numbers of crossings.
The proposal further reflects the influence of Australia, which has controversially used overseas detention and processing centers for asylum seekers since the 1980s, on UK immigration and asylum policy.
The Government has based its post-Brexit point-based immigration system on that developed in Australia.
Patel recently met with former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, known for his tough stance on immigration, who was appointed by Boris Johnson as UK trade adviser.
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