UK Considers Sending Migrants to Ascension Island if Rwanda Plan Fails

Whitehall is considering sending people who enter the UK in small boats to a volcanic island in the South Atlantic, a government minister confirmed. According to a report published on Sunday, ministers are reviving the 2020 proposal, which was shot down as being impractical.

In case the government’s plan to deport people to Rwanda fails, Home Office Minister Sarah Dines stated on Monday that the proposal to send people to Ascension Island could take its place.

We feel reasonably certain that Rwanda is a legitimate policy. We are concentrating on this because the high court and the lord chief justice determined that it was. But like any good government, we also consider other options. Therefore, she said to Times Radio, “We are looking at everything to make sure our policy works.”

Although the policy was upheld as legal by the high court, the court of appeals has since ruled that it is not. The highest court in the land, the supreme court, will likely be the venue for the government’s request for a final ruling.

Dines continued: We must lessen the attraction that illegal criminal gangs, who essentially abuse the system, have for luring people to this nation.

When asked about the potential high cost of transporting refugees 4,000 miles for processing, Dines replied that the agreement with Rwanda remained the top priority, but that ministers were, as you might expect, considering every other additional measure.

Three years ago, the Ascension Island policy was proposed in Whitehall at the request of Priti Patel, the home secretary at the time. She reportedly asked officials to investigate the idea, according to the Financial Times, but a Home Office source later told the Guardian that it was suggested to her after she inquired about how other nations handle asylum requests.

However, under the original policy, immigrants whose claims were verified would have been allowed to return to the UK. However, as of right now, anyone deemed to have attempted to enter the UK illegally will be permanently barred from doing so under the government’s Illegal Migration Act.

Then-shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds made the following statement: “This ludicrous idea is inhumane, totally impractical, and wildly expensive.” That this Tory government created it, therefore, seems entirely conceivable. The plan was described as “implausible” by a Home Office source as well.

When asked why it was being reconsidered in that situation, Dines responded to News Sources: Well, times change. Because of the urgency of the Channel crisis, we are currently considering all options.

However, for years the Conservative government has disregarded the advice of aid organizations and experts on refugees and asylum who claim that the best way to decrease the number of attempted crossings is to provide additional “safe and legal” ways for people to enter the UK and apply for asylum.

Dines expressed optimism that the Bibby Stockholm barge would begin housing its first asylum seekers “in coming days” when asked about another contentious government policy.

She stated to news sources that it would be a success for the barge in Portland Port, Dorset, to begin hosting the initial arrivals, adding that it is one of many locations where we will host people.

Migrants who enter the country illegally may be deported to Ascension Island, a remote British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean, if the British government’s controversial plan to send them to Rwanda is blocked by the courts.

It is significant to remember that the government has not officially decided whether or not to send migrants to Ascension Island. It’s possible that the government will ultimately decide against sending migrants to Ascension Island because the story is still developing. The fact that it is even considering this choice, though, is likely to cause more people to have doubts about its attempts to stop illegal immigration.