Channel crossings: Offshore asylum centres could be introduced as government explores 'all options'

The government said it is exploring “every avenue” to prevent more migrant Channel crossings including putting the military in charge of tackling the number of small boats coming to the UK and moving asylum processing centres offshore.

Downing Street has refused to comment on “speculation” around giving the armed forces responsibility to control the UK borders, as the home office said it was introducing “necessary long-term changes”.

The move comes amid a series revelations of lockdown-breaking parties at No 10, and Labour accused Boris Johnson of trying to “distract from the total mess he is in” with headline grabbing policies following the fallout.

Campaigners branded the latest migrant plans “cruel and inhumane”.

There are is little detailed information on how the plan would work and questions remain unanswered.

On November 24 2021, an inflatable dinghy carrying migrants from France to the United Kingdom capsized in the Channel, killing 27 of the 30 people on board while a Sudanese man in his twenties died while trying to cross the English Channel in sub-zero conditions on Saturday. A manslaughter investigation has been opened, the prosecutor for Boulogne-sur-Mer said.

In response to the reports, a spokesman for the MoD said: “Unacceptable numbers of people continue to make the dangerous Channel crossings and last November’s tragic deaths serve as the strongest reminder of the need to stop them.”

“The government is exploring every avenue to prevent further crossings and details of how that can be achieved will be made known in due course."

The home office added: “The UK armed forces already work closely with Border Force in these operations, providing expertise and assets as part of our processes in the Channel. It is right that we pursue all options to prevent illegal crossings and protect life at sea.”

Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the government has failed to carry out the “serious, practical work with France that is needed to stop lives being lost and criminal gangs profiting from dangerous Channel crossings”.

She said: “Instead, this looks like Boris Johnson is using the situation to chase headlines to distract from the total mess he is in as a result of rule-breaking parties in Number 10.

“The government brought the Navy in to patrol the Channel three years ago in 2019. HMS Enterprise and HMS Mersey did not intercept a single boat and the cost to the Home Office was £780,000. They need to explain what is different in these latest plans.

“They’ve announced pushbacks that they’ve now admitted won’t work and keep reannouncing offshore processing, even though no other country has agreed to it and it was incredibly costly and damaging when tried in Australia. Time and again they have gone for headlines rather than hard work to tackle this serious issue.”

The Times reported plans are being drawn up to send migrants to countries such as Ghana and Rwanda for processing and resettlement, but this has not been confirmed.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said it was “not helpful” to discuss ongoing negotiations with countries.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “Prime ministers since Churchill have always given people fleeing persecution and bloodshed a fair hearing on UK soil. Using the military to repel them and seeking to expel them offshore is cruel and inhumane.

“It’s a desperate move by a government that isn’t able to find solutions that will ensure an orderly, manageable and fair asylum system.”

Clare Moseley, founder of charity Care4Calais, said: “The people we work with in Calais are ordinary men and women who have simply had the misfortune to be born in a country that is much more dangerous than ours. They have done nothing wrong.

“They are not a ‘threat’, and a military response is not just disproportionate, it’s inhumane.”

More than 770 people have made the dangerous journey across the Channel in small boats so far this year, following a record-breaking year in 2021 when at least 28,000 arrived in the UK.