The move to overhaul the UK's asylum laws comes as officials are seeking to stem the number of migrants and refugees arriving in the country via English Channel boat crossings [File: Paul Childs/Reuters]
London, June 29 (RHC)-- The United Kingdom is planning to introduce legislation that would enable authorities to send asylum seekers abroad for processing in an Australian-style offshore center, according to media reports.
The Times newspaper reported on Monday that Home Secretary Priti Patel has opened talks with Denmark over sharing a processing center in Africa as part of the plan.
The reported proposal, which has been condemned by rights groups and opposition politicians, is expected to be put before Parliament next week as part of the Conservative government’s Nationality and Borders Bill, which comes as the UK moves to overhaul its asylum laws.
Earlier in June, Danish legislators approved a law allowing the Nordic country to deport asylum seekers to countries outside Europe, defying calls not to do so from NGOs and the United Nations. If the UK measures go ahead, it would mark the first time the country creates an offshore immigration processing centre for asylum seekers.
An unnamed UK government source told The Times that officials had held discussions with Danish counterparts on Copenhagen’s domestic asylum laws and negotiations with third countries over the possible creation of offshore processing centers.
The source said talks on the “potential” to share a processing centre abroad had also taken place, with Copenhagen reportedly eyeing Rwanda as a possible host nation for such a facility.
Home Office personnel have also reportedly examined Australia’s asylum system. There, all asylum seekers who arrive by sea are banned from entering and are instead sent to offshore centres in neighbouring countries such as Papua New Guinea.
The main opposition Labour Party decried the plan as “unconscionable.” Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said Labour would oppose the Nationality and Borders Bill, which is focused on ensuring people who enter the UK without documentation can be returned to the European countries through which they travelled.
