Fabricant Claims They ‘Briefly’ Looked At Bermuda

When discussing the UK’s plans to send migrants to Rwanda, British Conservative MP Michael Fabricant claimed that the British Government was “very, very briefly” looking at sending people to the “crown colony” of Bermuda, joking that “if they put Bermuda as a possible location for sending people, I think I’ll be crossing on the boats in order to get a cheap holiday.”

The Bermuda Government noted that “UK MP Michael Fabricant is incorrect, and his comments should not have referenced Bermuda, but another OT.”

It has been previously reported by multiple British media outlets, that there was some consideration of sending people to the British Overseas Territory of Ascension Island, an island that about 50% larger than Bermuda, with a population of under 1,000 people, and that plan was also reported to not be seen as viable.

“Bermuda has very clear and very distinct immigration policies and legislation, which govern the movement of residents and non-residents in and out of the island,” a Bermuda Government spokesperson said.

Appearing on the GB News Network, Mr Fabricant was asked about the Prime Minister’s plans to send migrants to Rwanda, and he replied, “Well, I believe he’s sticking with it. I’m not altogether sure, I had a meeting in number 10 last week, and I was saying that I don’t think it’s actually that wise to be considering just the Rwanda plan, because even though we’re going to pass a law to say that the government deems that Rwanda is a safe place to go, that doesn’t mean that the courts won’t still hold it up.

“But I do understand that we’re looking at other locations, and very, very briefly, we were even looking at Bermuda, can you believe, a crown colony? But I’ll tell you what, if they put Bermuda as a possible location for sending people, I think I’ll be crossing on the boats in order to get a cheap holiday.”

The concept that Britain can/would send migrants to Bermuda is an extremely unlikely scenario for a number of reasons, and the host responded to the MPs comment saying that if that were to happen, he would ”share a dinghy’ with the MP.

Extract from the interview where Bermuda was mentioned:

The BBC has reported, “Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says that ‘stopping the boats’ coming to the UK is a key priority. But part of the government’s plan to do this – sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda – has been ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court.

“As of 13 November, 27,284 people had crossed the English Channel in 2023. In 2022, 45,755 migrants made the crossing, the highest number since figures began to be collected in 2018. In total, more than 100,000 people have come to the UK this way since 2018.

The BBC also report, “Last month, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the scheme to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful. The prime minister now plans to sign a new treaty with the Rwandan government and to introduce emergency legislation declaring the scheme safe.

“Sending asylum seekers who arrive in the UK illegally to Rwanda is a key plank of Mr Sunak’s pledge to stop small boat crossings of the English Channel.”

Full interview segment to show the full context:

The concept of the UK sending people to the British Overseas Territories has been brought up before, back in 2015, a British MP asked if the UK Government plans to “distribute Syrian refugees amongst the British Overseas Territories [BOTs],” with the then Minister noting that British Overseas Territories have “not been asked to take part in the resettlement” and “immigration policy is a devolved responsibility for the Governments of the British Overseas Territories.”

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