By John Lamont MP
This week I spoke in the UK Parliament on behalf of the Petitions Committee on the issue of immigration.
I opened a debate on a petition, which gained over 700,000 signatures, calling on the Government to establish offshore detention facilities for people who enter the UK illegally, to process them and arrange their deportation.
The number of signatures this petition received, including from people across the Borders, reflects the strength of feeling on this issue.
This petition comes on the back of a report by the Public Accounts Committee, which reported last month that the asylum system is "under severe pressure, with high costs and persistent backlogs."
All the evidence shows our immigration system is broken beyond belief. It seems to encourage and reward those who make an asylum claim, even if they have no real fair basis for doing so.
The practice of using state-funded hotels to house illegal immigrants has led to justified public anger, when British people who work hard and pay huge sums of taxes are struggling to make ends meet.
Those who brought forward this petition argue that the system would be fairer for taxpayers and more effective if it was consolidated entirely offshore at a single location with one integrated set of services, including accommodation, healthcare, legal support, translation, and case management.
This would replace the current costly patchwork of provision, provide clearer entry and exit controls, and provide a genuine deterrent that mainland accommodation cannot deliver.
Many in the SNP, Labour and the Greens regard any policy like this, designed to protect our own borders, as morally wrong.
Yet, internationally, offshore detention and other similar measures have been effective and are increasingly being considered by governments of all political stripes.
Australia's move to offshore processing coincided with a sharp fall in boat arrivals. Other countries have brought in similar measures as the petitioners seek, including Italy and Denmark. Many others, including Germany, Austria, Denmark and Greece have considered using facilities outside of the European Union.
Yet, instead of considering new ideas, the UK Labour government has dismissed the reasonable views of huge numbers of people across the country.
The government should take this petition seriously and not dismiss it for political or ideological reasons. It should urgently consider a new approach to immigration and look at establishing offshore detention facilities for people who enter the UK illegally.
