Send asylum seekers to Orkneys not Rwanda, says Lee Anderson
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Asylum seekers should be sent to the Orkney Islands rather than Rwanda, Lee Anderson has said.
The Conservative party deputy chairman and Red Wall MP said that Scottish islands offered a viable alternative for processing applications because although remote, it was on British soil.
He suggested that it would be a better solution than the Falklands Islands, which was considered by the Home Office but rejected because public services were too limited and there were sensitivities about the war with Argentina.
Scottish islands such as Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles were considered in 2020 by Priti Patel, the home secretary at the time, as possible locations to build asylum processing centres but the idea was dropped in favour of Rwanda.
Speaking on GB News, Mr Anderson, the MP for Ashfield, said that he had suggested the Falklands Islands and South Georgia, an island 800 miles from the Falklands, to Boris Johnson two years ago when he was prime minister.
“He smiled at me,” Mr Anderson said. “But I don’t think it’s fair on the Falkland Islands to be honest; they don’t want these illegal migrants going down there.
“There’s a better option: we can keep them on British soil if you like. We’ve got the Orkneys or some remote Scottish island. I know it’s a bit parky up there this time of year.
“But if people are genuinely escaping war or persecution then a nice Scottish island with a few outbuildings would be suitable. This is a beautiful country. Parts of Scotland are a ‘go to’ destination, the remote islands – I’d like to be able to afford a place up there.
“If we can get some accommodation up there, keep these people safe – these people want to be safe, they’re fleeing so-called persecution from these war-torn countries. If we can put them on a nice, safe island in the north of Scotland, job done.
“If we can find an island in the Orkneys or up there that’s got no one on there to start off with, put some decent accommodation on, then it’s job done.
“The Falkland Islands, I think it’s a little bit far to go and it’s not fair on the Falkland Islanders who have got their own problems at the moment with their sovereignty, with Argentina. But if people are genuinely escaping violence or persecution then a nice little island in the north of Scotland is perfect.”
The Falklands was previously the most advanced scheme but was rejected by Rishi Sunak because of the limited scale of the Home Office plan to send only 30 migrants to the islands in a six- to 12-month pilot.
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha were also considered but subsequently dropped because of their remoteness and the cost of transporting migrants to the islands.
The US government was also said to be “very sensitive” to the choice of Ascension Island because the base is used by the US space force.
The Ministry of Defence dismissed Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus because the only place to land migrants was the British military base on the Mediterranean island.
Gibraltar was also ruled out after Fabian Picardo, the chief minister, refused because of “constitutional and legal issues” and the “geographical limitations” of the territory.
There were also concerns that migrants would leave the territory and travel to Spain and north through Europe.
