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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Caroline Davies

Labour government discussed Tanzania asylum camp plan in 2004, files show

Hilary Benn in 2004: he sits in an armchair in a room with a large map of the world on the wall behind him; he is gesticulating with his hands as if explaining something
Hilary Benn, the then international development secretary, proposed the transfer of £2m to the Home Office budget in January 2004. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

Tony Blair’s government discussed diverting £2m earmarked to prevent conflict in Africa in order to fund a controversial pilot scheme to process and house asylum-seekers in Tanzania, newly released government files show.

Under the scheme, Britain would have offered Tanzania an extra £4m in aid if it opened an asylum camp to house people claiming to be Somalian refugees while their applications to live in Britain were assessed.

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