Politics

Sending asylum seekers abroad for processing is ‘inhumane’, MPs say


Charities and MPs have fiercely criticised the Home Secretary’s proposal to overhaul the asylum and immigration system and deter people smugglers, calling it “outlandish and unrealistic”.

Priti Patel is said to want to change the law so migrants can be sent to a third country such as Turkey to await being returned to their home nation or the safe country they arrived from, according to the Daily Mail.

Gibraltar, the Isle of Man and Scottish islands are said to be among the locations that have been discussed by officials, according to reports.

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “The Tories are lurching from one inhumane, ridiculous proposal to another.

“Last year they were talking about creating waves in the English Channel to wash boats back and buying ferries and oil rigs to process asylum claims.

“These absurd ideas show the Government has lost control and all sense of compassion. Ministers must act to reopen safe routes, as promised, and deliver the promised agreement with France.”

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds

/ Lucy Young

Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo has written to Ms Patel to confirm that the reports are “groundless speculation” and to stress Gibraltar would be unable to host the processing of asylum seekers due to constitutional issues and the “geographical limitations” of the territory.

He said: “We will not ever shirk our responsibility to help wherever we can. Our geography makes some things difficult, however, and the processing of asylum seekers to the UK in Gibraltar would be one of them.”

The SNP’s immigration spokesperson Anne Mclaughlin MP said the Home Secretary had hit a “new low” with her plans, describing it as a “desperate rehash of a failed New Labour policy from 20 years ago”.



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