As part of attempts to prevent people crossing the English Channel in small boats, the UK government has been briefing the press that it is considering sending arrivals to Ascension Island – a remote piece of land in the Atlantic Ocean inhabited by fewer than 900 people. This idea was originally mooted in 2021 and dropped on the grounds that it was unworkable.
No formal announcement has been made and one can only hope that the government won’t see through on such a plan given how much it would cost. If it did go ahead, it would soon find it to be legally problematic. It would most likely be in direct contradiction to the European convention on human rights, which, among other things, prohibits torture and inhuman and degrading treatment.
