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Asylum seekers arriving in Dover could be sent abroad to be processed
08:26, 18 March 2021
updated: 14:11, 18 March 2021
Asylum seekers could be sent to processing centres abroad under the Home Secretary’s plans to overhaul the immigration system, according to reports.
The British overseas territory of Gibraltar is a location under consideration by officials, according to The Times, as well as the Isle of Man and other islands off the British coast.
Priti Patel has vowed to stop people making the perilous journey across the English Channel and is expected to publish details of plans overhauling the UK’s asylum and immigration system next week.
Over the last three years there has been a trend of asylum seekers crossing the sea from France crammed into dinghies.
They have landed on various parts of the Kent coast such as Kingsdown near Deal, Folkestone and Romney Marsh. This has meant Kent County Council has been repsonsible for looking after unaccompanied asylum seeker children.
This has put immense pressure on the council and last August it announced the county had reached full capacity. The children were dealt with by Border Force.
The authority's resources such as social workers, independent reviewing officers, care workers and suitable accommodation have been “exhausted” by the ongoing crisis.
The Times said plans due to be set out by the Home Secretary will include a consultation on changing the law so that people seeking asylum can be sent to processing centres in third countries.
It follows a series of leaks last year suggesting the UK government was considering a number of offshore policies akin to those used in Australia.
These included sending asylum seekers to Ascension Island, more than 4,000 miles from the UK, to be processed, and turning disused ferries out at sea into processing centres.
The ideas were dismissed by critics at the time as unfeasible, while Labour condemned the suggestion of an asylum processing centre on Ascension Island as “inhumane, completely impractical and wildly expensive”.
The government believes sending people to third countries for processing would be compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), according to reports.
There is currently controversy over asylum seekers being held at the former Napier Barracks in Folkestone.
Charities say they are being kept in inhumane conditions.
In January it was found that 200 of the inhabitants had tested positive for Covid-19.
The Times said the new legislation will include life sentences for people smugglers and the establishment of reception centres on government land, with many currently being housed in hotels.
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council charity, condemned the proposed policy as “inhumane”.
He told the paper: “We know from the Australian model that offshore detention leads to appalling outcomes including high levels of self-harm and mental illness.
“It is an inhumane policy that undermines our nation’s proud tradition of providing protection to people fleeing persecution and terror many of whom have gone on to work as doctors and nurses in the NHS.
“As we mark the 70th anniversary of the UN convention on refugees later this year we should be welcoming refugees, treating them with compassion.”
People smugglers continue to be caught and brought before Kent courts such as Gavin Charters who was caught with a man and woman in the boot of his car.
