移民はセントヘレナ島送り？　英政府案が物議、人工波で上陸阻止案も

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英仏海峡を渡って英国に流入する非正規移民の急増に頭を悩ませている英政府が、難民申請者らを南大西洋の孤島セントヘレナ島などに収容する案を検討していると英メディアが報じ、物議を醸している。（写真は資料写真）
　英国ではこの夏、フランスからゴムボートで海峡を渡って入国を試みる移民が急増した。英当局者は、新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大に伴い英仏間を結ぶトラックやフェリーの便数が減少し、これまでの密航ルートを利用する機会が失われたことが一因とみている。英警察によると、英国を目指す移民たちの必死の思いにつけ込んだ犯罪組織が、高額の密航費用と引き換えに危険な航海をあっせんしているという。
　プリティ・パテル内相は先に移民の流入を止めると宣言していたが、ＢＢＣによれば先月の上陸者数は過去最高を記録した。
　こうした中、英紙フィナンシャル・タイムズ（ＦＴ）は１日、政府が英本土から約６４００キロ以上離れた南大西洋に浮かぶ英領の火山島アセンション島とセントヘレナ島に収容施設を設置する案を検討していると報じた。いずれも、首都ロンドンより南アフリカのケープタウンやブラジルのリオデジャネイロに近い絶海の孤島だ。

■英紙報道、移民阻止案あの手この手
　ＦＴはまた、人工的に波を発生させるポンプを取り付けた船を複数、英仏海峡に配備して、移民の乗ったゴムボートをフランス側の海域に押し戻す案も政府内で検討されたと伝えた。さらに、船をたくさん並べて海峡上に「壁」をつくり、ゴムボートの行く手を遮るという案も出たという。
　一方、英紙タイムズは、建造４０年の既に引退した大型旅客船をイタリアから６００万ポンド（約８億円）で購入し、沖合に停泊させて客室１４１室に最大１４００人の移民を収容する案や、北海にある閉鎖された石油プラットホームに移民を送る案も検討されていると報道。
　大衆紙デーリー・メールは、移民収容施設をイングランド南部沖のワイト島やスコットランド北東部沖のシェトランド諸島、アイリッシュ海のマン島に設置する可能性もあると伝えた。
　政府は、実際にどんな案が議論されたのか具体的な説明は避けたが、「不法移民と難民に関する政策や法律の改定計画を進めている」ことは認めた。
　野党政治家や人権団体は、検討が報じられた案はいずれも「良心に照らして受け入れ難く」「見るに堪えない」と非難。一方、研究者らは経費がかかりすぎ非現実的だと指摘している。
　英労働党の「影の内相」ニック・トマスシモンズ氏は、与党・保守党が移民問題をめぐる「環境をどれだけ悪化させたかを示す、恥ずべき事例」だと批判。政府はカリブ系移民の子孫を不法滞在者扱いした「ウィンドラッシュ」スキャンダルから「何も学んでいない」と述べた。
　英国では２年前、１９５０～６０年代にカリブ海地域の英領（当時）から合法的に移住した「ウィンドラッシュ世代」と呼ばれる移民の子孫たちが誤って不法移民とみなされ、強制退去を迫られたり身柄を拘束されたりしていたことが発覚し、政府を揺るがすスキャンダルとなった。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/10/06-12:38）

The British government is grappling with how to deal with a recent surge in irregular migration across the Channel, but reports about possible solutions have caused an outcry.
Among the proposals are said to be holding asylum seekers on a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean which is closer to Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro than London.
Other purported suggestions reported in the British media involved mooring a 40-year-old ferry off the English coast to house up to 1,400 people in 141 cabins, or even sending migrants to decommissioned oil rigs in the North Sea.
Opposition politicians and rights groups said the mooted ideas were unconscionable and dismal while academics warn they would be expensive and impractical.
The government refused to specify what precisely is being discussed, but confirmed it is developing plans to reform policies and laws around illegal migration and asylum.
It follows a spike in migrants using small and dangerous boats to cross the Channel from France over the summer months.
Interior minister Priti Patel has vowed to stop the journeys but record numbers of people navigated the 21-mile (33-kilometre) waterway last month, according to the BBC.
UK officials say the coronavirus outbreak has contributed to the increase, with fewer trucks and ferries travelling between France and the UK reducing stowaway opportunities.
Organised crime groups are capitalising on people's desperation to reach Britain, charging them thousands of pounds for a place on a hazardous inflatable vessel, police say.
European police announced Wednesday they had busted one such network, arresting 12 suspected human smugglers in France, the Netherlands and the UK as part of a joint operation.
- Australian-style policies -
The reports of the supposed government ideas for offshore asylum processing drew incredulity for their outlandishness.
One mooted idea is the creation of a centre on the volcanic island chain of Ascension and Saint Helena, more than 4,000 miles from the UK.
The Financial Times, which first reported the story, on Thursday said officials had also discussed the possibility of deploying boats with pumps generating waves in the Channel.
The idea was to force small boats back into French waters. Another was to link vessels together to form a barrier blocking their path.
The Times said the UK was exploring purchasing a disused ferry from Italy for ??6 million ($8 million, 7 million euros), and had also even examined using decommissioned North Sea oil platforms.
The Daily Mail reported the immigration centres could be built on the Isle of Wight, off the southern English coast, the Shetland Islands off northeast Scotland or the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.
Many drew comparisons to Australia, where would-be asylum seekers arriving by boat are held in offshore detention centres on Manus, Nauru and Christmas islands.
The camps, condemned by the United Nations but backed by Australia's major parties, have seen hunger strikes, demonstrations and suicide attempts among detainees.
One of the policy's main exponents, Australia's former prime minister Tony Abbott, has recently become a trade adviser to the UK government.
- 'Vile' -
Britain's interior ministry declined to comment on the potential plans and reports that architects of the Australian system were advising the government.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said Thursday he did not recognise the steps outlined in some reports but confirmed it was looking at the immigration policies of a whole host of other countries.
There is clearly an issue here which we need to address, he added.
Labour party home affairs spokesman Nick Thomas-Symonds said the reported proposals were a vile example of how degraded an environment over immigration the ruling Conservatives had created.
The government had learned nothing from the recent Windrush scandal, which saw a generation of Britons of Caribbean origin who moved to the UK legally in the 1950s and 1960s wrongly detained or deported for being illegal immigrants, he added.
Amnesty UK's Steve Valdez-Symonds added the idea to effectively exile people seeking asylum to far-flung and isolated places... defies consideration of the needs, rights and welfare of women, men and children.
It is a dismal reflection upon Home Office ministers that this idea... has been given any consideration at all, he said.
Agnieszka Kubal, sociology lecturer at University College London, said the proposals would be costly and unviable.
She also questioned if using overseas territories to house migrants would comply with legal obligations around asylum.
The UK would be within the letter of the law but would be breaking the spirit of the international law, she added.