PM: We’ll use £75m foreign aid cash to send Med migrants home

MILLIONS of pounds from Britain’s aid budget will be used to send home migrants trying to get to Europe, Theresa May will announce today.

At a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, the Prime Minister will unveil a £75million plan to deter people from crossing the Mediterranean from Africa.

Record numbers have attempted the perilous journey to Italy with fears an even greater influx is looming as the weather improves.

Britain will seek to reduce the flow by offering people free flights from the north of Africa back to their home countries. The three-year scheme will provide humanitarian support to would-be migrants on transit routes from the Horn of Africa and western Africa through countries such as Niger, Egypt and Libya.

Those who find themselves stranded and destitute along the routes will be offered assistance to return home rather than continuing to Europe.

While any assisted returns will be voluntary, it is thought many individuals will take up the scheme’s offer as a way of escaping the gruelling conditions of the transit routes, which expose them to the risk of death, violence, forced labour and exploitation at the hands of people-traffickers before they even reach Mediterranean ports.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel said: ‘This new UK support will provide desperately needed aid and protection to tens of thousands of the world’s most vulnerable … As well as saving lives, this will provide vulnerable people with meaningful alternatives to the treacherous crossings into Europe.’