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Humanitarian groups and charities have reacted furiously to revelations that No. 10 officials explored sending asylum seekers to overseas detention centers in Moldova, Morocco and the South Atlantic islands, calling the move “ morally bankrupt ”.
A source close to the Interior Ministry told The Guardian that the prime minister’s senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, had become “obsessed with Canal crossings” in the weeks leading up to the release of documents on the implications of the idea in mid-June. of September.
“It bothers him that he is always in the press and thinks the voters of the red wall are very disliked, which is so,” said the source. And she wants to deal with it. And she thinks these rather extreme forms would be totally fine with the red wall voters, which probably is. “
Documents seen by The Guardian suggest that the government has been working for weeks on “detailed plans” that include cost estimates to build asylum detention camps on the islands of Ascension and Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, as well as in Moldova, Morocco and Papua New Guinea.
Humanitarian groups and refugee charities condemned the proposals. Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said: “It is a sad thought for Home Office ministers that this idea of effectively exiling asylum seekers in remote and isolated places has been heeded. This would be completely immoral and inhumane. “
Refugee Action CEO Stephen Hale said: “The government’s speculative plans to arrest human beings and confine them to prison ships or camps on remote islands are inhumane and morally bankrupt… Britain is better than this. We need a fair and effective asylum system, based on compassion, safety and the rule of law. “
Andy Hewett, head of defense for the Refugee Council, said: “The Australian model has shown that detention abroad leads to catastrophic outcomes, including high levels of self-harm and mental illness. It is an immoral and inhuman policy ”.
Minnie Rahman, campaign and public affairs manager for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), called the proposals “cruel and ridiculous,” adding: “These proposals are so ridiculous they are almost ridiculous.”
However, some Conservative MPs expressed support for the idea. Andrew Bridgen, the Conservative MP from North West Leicestershire, said he had long supported offshore centers to house asylum seekers.
He said: “This is a great idea and it would be popular. Hope we use unused ferries and cruise ships. I’ve been suggesting this for a while. It would mean that the people who come here could not flee and could be quickly evaluated and considered for removal quickly.
“This could discourage them from putting their lives in the hands of ruthless human traffickers.”
George Freeman, Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk, said: “With 50 million asylum seekers in the world and forecasts of one billion global migrants as a result of climate change, the government is right to consider what is a responsible situation, fair and sustainable Asylum policy would be to avoid the gruesome scenes of refugees and victims of human trafficking flooding to seek asylum in the UK. “
A senior Whitehall source downplayed the possibility of an offshore center being established, but said the idea had to be taken seriously because, as expected, it comes with the backing of Johnson’s chief of staff.
“This is still in the ‘Dom brain fart’ stage. No one in the government has yet identified a location for an offshore center; there have been no talks with other governments. But everyone has to kick the tires, because it came from him, ”said the source.
A conservative source said Oliver Letwin raised the idea of overseas detention centers for migrants when conservatives were in opposition and under the leadership of David Cameron. “David and George [Osborne] I rightly told him to take a cold shower, ”said the source.
The documents reveal that trials had been carried out over a blockade on the English Channel similar to Australia’s controversial tactic of “turning back the ships”. Seven thousand migrants have arrived in the UK in small boats across the English Channel so far this year, according to PA Media’s analysis, more than three times the number of arrivals on this route in all of 2019.
