Floating asylum centres plan for retired ferries
Migrants seeking asylum in Britain would be processed on disused ferries moored off the coast under plans being considered by Downing Street, The Times reports.
The prime minister wants to deter migrants from making dangerous crossings from France and is working on proposals to ‘‘prevent abuse of the system and criminality’’.
One option being considered is to buy retired ferries and convert them into asylum-processing centres.
The Times has also been told that the Home Office held discussions about moving migrants to decommissioned oil platforms in the North Sea for processing. The idea was debated at a Whitehall brainstorming session but ministers decided that it was a ‘‘no go’’. Other options, such as islands off the British coast, possibly in Scotland, are under consideration.
The plan to move migrants to ships is thought more realistic and is being given serious consideration. It is a favoured option on a list that will be presented to the prime minister. There is also the possibility of building a processing centre on a Scottish island. However, there are concerns that it would be opposed by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, and by local residents.
Downing Street asked officials to consider sending asylum seekers to Moldova, Morocco or Papua New Guinea for processing, and to the south Atlantic islands of Ascension and St Helena, which are overseas British territories. But processing migrants abroad, similar to the Australian ‘‘offshore’’ policy, is unlikely because of concerns about the cost, logistics and legal and diplomatic ramifications.
A disused 40-year-old ferry can be bought from Italy for £6 million. It could house 1400 people in 141 cabins. A disused cruise ship, at present moored in Barbados, would cost £116 million and could accommodate 2417 people in 1000 cabins. Converting the vessels would add to the cost significantly.
The number of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats has risen sharply.
By the end of August 5000 people had arrived, more than twice the number for the whole of 2019. Priti Patel, the home secretary, has pledged to make the route ‘‘unviable’’ but options once migrants have entered British waters are limited. She has told Tory MPS that the asylum system is broken and accused ‘‘leftie-supporting lawyers’’ of exploiting the system to keep migrants in the country.
A No 10 spokesman said: ‘‘We are developing plans to reform our illegal migration and asylum policies so we can keep providing protection to those who need it while preventing abuse of the system and criminality, which, as we have seen with the rise in gang-facilitated Channel crossings, is a problem. As part of that work, we have been looking at what a whole host of other countries do to inform a plan for the UK.’’
Tony Abbott, trade adviser to the government, oversaw Australia’s offshoring policy when he was prime minister . He recently met Patel.
The home secretary is expected to address the issue in a speech at the Conservative Party conference on Sunday. She is drawing up plans for a ‘‘fairer borders bill’’ designed to stop people drawing out the asylum application process.