UK pledges £75m to send migrants home

BRITAIN will spend £75million providing humanitarian support to African migrants trying to make their way to Europe and offering to fund their journeys back home.

The UK will provide food and water to those making the dangerous crossing from the Horn of Africa through Niger, Egypt and Libya.

Migrants who find themselves stranded and destitute along the perilous desert routes will be offered humanitarian support and the offer of transport home.

While any assisted returns will be voluntary, it is thought that many individuals could take advantage of the scheme as a way of escaping the gruelling conditions of the transit routes

Theresa May will present the plans at a summit in Brussels today.

Priti Patel, the International Development Secretary, said: “The UK has been at the forefront of responding to the migration crisis and our work to date has helped reduce total migrant numbers to Europe since 2015.

“But worryingly, more and more people are now using the incredibly dangerous central Mediterranean route.

“This new UK support will provide desperately needed aid and protection to tens of thousands of the world’s most vulnerable.

“But critically it will also make clear the massive risks involved at every stage of this route and provide alternatives

‘This support will provide desperately needed aid and protection to thousands of the world’s vulnerable’

so those who change their minds can return home. As well as saving lives, this will provide vulnerable people with meaningful alternatives to the treacherous crossings into Europe.

“Building on our existing work to deal with the root causes of migration, this approach is about using our aid in a smart way, as part of a co-ordinated approach across Government, to provide protection to people who need it and serve Britain’s national interests.”