London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Priti Patel’s plan to offshore refugees is costly, wrong and doomed to fail

Priti Patel’s plan to offshore refugees is costly, wrong and doomed to fail

The home secretary’s proposal won’t stop asylum seekers trying to reach the UK. Creating safe legal routes is the solution
How do we put a stop to the Channel crossings? There is no doubt that our relationship with France is pivotal. I’m not naive about this: I know a thing or two about negotiating with the French.

Clearly, both the shadow of Brexit and the looming French presidential election are souring the context. But we have found common cause before: securing the Channel tunnel entrance and closing down the Sangatte refugee camp. We must rediscover that spirit of cooperation to ensure that robust patrol and surveillance measures are in place. That is surely not beyond us.

Longer term, the nationality and borders billwill be integral to fighting this perilous phenomenon. The home secretary is undoubtedly committed to finding a solution and she is right on many of the proposed answers: we must take a tough stance on vile people smugglers who trade on people’s lives. But on one specific front, I very much fear she has got it wrong.

The bill contains a proposal to grant the UK unprecedented powers to send migrants to a third country to have their asylum claims processed. This means the government could deport migrants before their applications have been considered, creating an immigration process in reverse: deport first, ask questions later.

Advocates of the “offshoring” policy have used the Australian model, on which it is based, to argue that it was effective in reducing the number of boat crossings. But our geography is entirely different. And the Home Office has not explained where this offshore processing will take place.

The Norwegians have said no. The Albanians have said no. The Rwandans have said no. So now the Home Office is left considering Ascension Island: 2,000 miles from Britain, with no infrastructure on the island and just one weekly flight from Johannesburg, via Namibia. Offshoring started off costing the Australians more than £300,000 a person a year to process but ended up costing more than £2m a person a year. The UK only has even more expensive options.

We now know that in centres on Nauru and Papua New Guinea, many detainees were mistreated, while others languished in limbo year after year with little hope of resolution. We know that the staggering costs were unsustainable and the policy was abandoned. So why are we trying to emulate this failed strategy?

The blanket nature of pre-emptive deportation is particularly worrying. For a deterrent to be effective, there can be no exemptions or exceptions. Indeed, the minister rejected an amendment at committee stage and explicitly ruled out any exemptions. So a pregnant woman, an orphaned child, a young family – all will be deported to a transit country and detained while their fate is decided.

And herein lies a great irony. At least three-quarters of those asylum seekers detained in offshore processing centres by Australia were eventually judged to be genuine refugees. Similarly in the UK, the vast majority of those who claim asylum are granted asylum. Pushing the problem to another part of the world is just a costly way of delaying the inevitable.

From mountains of paperwork and chartering RAF flights, to building the required infrastructure and dealing with foreign bureaucracies, the logistics involve colossal costs the British taxpayer could well do without. At worst, we could inadvertently create a British Guantanamo Bay.

Parliament shouldn’t grant the government a power that it hasn’t explained how it would use. Nor should we grant a power we don’t want to see used. We said no to pre-trial detention. We said no to ID cards. And we should say no to offshoring until the government can explain how and where they plan to do it.

There is no magic solution, but the current proposal will do little to tackle the push factors driving people out of their home countries or the pull factors that attract them to the UK, such as speaking English or a desire to be reunited with their families. Crucially, it will not deter refugees from attempting to reach the UK; they will always look for other ways.

Instead of a policy built solely on keeping people out, the government should consider creating a legitimate route in for genuine refugees. Many will be surprised to learn that the UK does not have a proper scheme in place that allows people to exercise their right to seek asylum. Migrants fleeing repression in Iran or famine in war-torn Yemen are not able to apply at British embassies. They are not allowed to board flights without guaranteed permission to enter the UK. The only options available to them are either illegal or dangerous or both.

Creating new legal and safe routes would be a constructive rather than destructive deterrent. It would give people a chance to make their case and to think again about crossing the Channel. It would send the message that Britain is firm and fair, realistic and compassionate. Only then will we truly take back control.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×