Morocco refused to enter discussions with the UK to become a “third-country asylum processing center,” according to leaked documents from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The British news outlet The Times revealed on Monday that Morocco was one of the countries the UK sought to engage in discussions regarding a potential agreement similar to the “Rowanda deal” with Rwanda. This agreement aims to process migrants and asylum seekers in a third country.
However, alongside other African countries such as Tunisia, Namibia, and The Gambia, the Kingdom reportedly “explicitly declined to participate in technical discussions,” while UK officials dismissed others as “non-starters.”
As part of the British government’s extensive search for another third-country deal, The Times mentioned that “Britain has entered talks to replicate the Rwanda migrant deportation scheme with Armenia, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica, and Botswana.”
The same source mentioned some South American countries, such as Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Brazil, and Colombia, as being less likely to be interested in inking such a deal.
Other African countries like Cape Verde, Senegal, Tanzania, and Sierra Leone were mentioned on a reserve list that would be approached if the aforementioned targets failed.
In August 2022, British reports mentioned that the UK was in advanced talks with five further African nations, including Morocco to relocate asylum seekers similar to the migration partnership inked with Rwanda.
Last year, media reports noted that asylum-seekers were moved to a barge in southern England to reduce housing costs. The Bibby Stockholm, a floating hostel, is said to have accommodated up to 500 men, with more expected to arrive.
This decision sought to cut expenses associated with housing asylum-seekers in hotels due to a recent surge in arrivals.
Immigrant rights groups then opposed housing asylum-seekers in barges, but the UK government wanted to use that space and former military bases as the cost of housing migrants in hotels reached £1.9 billion ($2.4 billion) in 2022.
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