An online online petition calling for the introduction of offshore detention and mass deportation for illegal migrants has crossed 217,000 signatures, putting fresh pressure on the government to take a harder line on migration. The petition, started by MP Rupert Lowe, calls on ministers to establish offshore detention facilities to process and deport those entering the UK illegally.
The petition urges the government to “seek to establish offshore detention facilities for individuals who enter the UK illegally, to process them and arrange their deportation.” Lowe, a former MEP and now MP, has made the case in stark terms: “We need to secure the illegal migrants on an offshore island. Detain the illegals, arrange deportation, and remove them as swiftly as possible. We have plenty of islands, we have plenty of tents – let’s use them.”
Mr Lowe has repeatedly raised concerns about the use of hotels within communities to house asylum seekers, particularly in residential areas and near schools. “Imagine a hotel down the road from your child’s school is suddenly filled with unchecked foreign males from alien cultures. No consultation, it just happens,” he said.
He went on: “If MPs are confident enough to allow these unchecked men to roam around our communities, they should be confident enough to welcome them into their own homes.”
Lowe’s comments follow an incident reported by Northamptonshire Police in December, when complaints were made about men loitering outside Deanshanger Primary School in Milton Keynes. The force said it would “deliver work” around “appropriate behaviours” and “cultural expectations” for asylum seekers housed in the area.
On social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Mr Lowe added: “Unchecked illegal migrants should be allowed NOWHERE near primary or secondary schools – they shouldn’t be free to roam the streets, they should be securely detained.
“I did ask the Home Office to implement protection zones around schools when there is a migrant hotel nearby. They refused. Let’s remember, they don’t even inform residents of when a local hotel is being hijacked. Again, I asked the Home Office to implement such a consultation process. They refused. Their opening line in response? Stating they have an ‘obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and subsistence support’. Remind me – who is the Home Office supposed to be serving? It should be declared a national security emergency and treated as such.
“These unchecked foreign males are NOT welcome in our communities – every single one should be deported. But above all else – let these unchecked men NOWHERE NEAR school children.”
The Home Office has previously defended its policy of accommodating asylum seekers, citing legal obligations to provide support to those who arrive in the UK destitute. While the government has explored various options for offshore processing, including a high-profile but stalled deal with Rwanda, ministers have so far stopped short of adopting Lowe’s proposed approach.
With the petition now well over the threshold required for a parliamentary debate, the government faces renewed calls to respond to mounting public concern and clarify its long-term strategy for managing illegal migration and community safety.
The petition is available online to view here:
