Ministers ‘could send migrants to Ascension Island’ if Rwanda policy fails
Government ministers are considering sending migrants to tiny Ascension Island for processing as a ‘plan B’ if their Rwanda plans never get off the ground, according to reports.
The remote island, located halfway between Africa and South America in the South Atlantic Ocean, was originally floated as a potential site for the asylum centre by Priti Patel three years ago.
Those plans have now reportedly been revived as efforts to fly migrants to Rwanda continue to be hit by legal setbacks.
Ascension Island is a British Overseas Territory, which is 34 square miles in size and located around 4,000 miles away.
It has no indigenous or permanent population, with all residents either employees or their families.
The latest proposals comes as the first migrants are expected to be housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland Port, Dorset.
Around 50 people are expected to be among the initial group who may board later today.
The barge, which will hold 500 men aged between 18 and 65, has been sitting empty since it was first brought to the port three weeks ago due to health and safety concerns.
Dozens of human rights organisations and campaigners, including the Refugee Council and the Institute for Race Relations, signed an open letter last month saying the barge plans were ‘cruel and inhumane’.
The firefighters’ union warned concerns over overcrowding and access to fire exits would make the Bibby Stockholm a ‘potential deathtrap’.
However, immigration minister Robert Jenrick offered a guarantee that it is a ‘safe facility’ and said it would welcome its first occupants ‘in the coming days’.
The developments as the government’s ‘small boats week’ begins, with several announcements aimed at tackling the crisis in the English Channel.
Fines for employers and landlords who allow people who arrive by irregular means to work for them or live in their properties are to be hugely increased.
Civil penalties for employers will be increased up to a maximum of £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for repeat offenders, tripling both from the last increase in 2014.
Landlords face fines going from £1,000 per occupier to £10,000, with repeat breaches going from £3,000 to £20,000. Penalties relating to lodgers will also be hiked.
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