Ascension Island, an isolated volcanic rock of 34 square miles, 1,000 miles west of the African coast and 1,400 miles east of South America, has long been known by the Royal Navy as the Stone Frigate. It was designated as such on 22 October 1815 and claimed for King George III with the classification of a “Sloop of War of the smaller class.”
It is now being considered as a possible alternative to Rwanda for deportation of “illegal immigrants.” Why would anybody, in their right mind, consider it suitable for such a purpose?
British early history of Ascension Island
In 1823 a garrison of Royal Marines was established on the island to create a stopping point and victualling station for Royal Navy ships of the West Africa Squadron. Charles Darwin visited it in 1836 and described it as “a treeless island with sparse vegetation due to low rainfall {6.8 inches per year} that supported 600 sheep, goats and a few cows and horses.” He advised the RN to enlist the help of Kew Gardens to import trees to turn the barren island into a garden.
Gradually, tall Norfolk Pines that could be used as replacement masts for sailing ships, were planted to create Green Mountain, a tropical rainforest. Banana plants, bamboo and eucalyptus were added. By the end of the 19th century, Britain found another military use for the island and installed a submarine communications cable from it to connect Britain with South Africa during the Boer War.
The 20th century – battles of the Atlantic and Falklands
During World War II, the German submarine threat to Atlantic convoys prompted America to build Wideawake air base on Ascension to be used for aircraft anti-submarine patrols. The first aircraft to land on the unfinished runway were two RN Fairey Swordfish torpedo planes, famous for destroying the Italian fleet in Taranto harbour in November 1940. This heralded a close cooperation between the US and UK to develop the island as a strategic base for military tracking and communications and as a stopping point for US military aircraft en route to Europe and Africa. The European Space Agency also has a tracking station for its Ariane rockets there and one of four worldwide GPS tracking stations is located there.
In 1982, the Royal Navy needed a staging point for its task force sailing to the Falklands Islands, 3,800 miles south-west of Ascension. A British Forces Support Unit was formed, with a detachment of 845 Squadron Wessex Mk 5 helicopters, deployed to provide vertical replenishment of task force ships and cross-decking of equipment and personnel. The Squadron CO, Roger, was a friend who joined the RN with me. Although his squadron later proceeded to the Falklands, Roger stayed at Ascension to manage helicopter operations there. Wideawake became one of the busiest airfields in the world with 400 operations daily, including the Vulcan bombers and Victor tankers used for the initial strike on the Falklands airfield. When HMS Hermes stopped by, we took delivery of much equipment supplied by the US for installation on our aircraft and helicopters, including air-to-air missiles and night vision goggles. See British Forces Support Unit for more information. After the Argentine surrender, I flew round the islands to visit some of my Sea King helicopters that ended up ashore, giving Mike Clapp, author of this BFU article, a lift to HMS Fearless.
How will they cope with deported illegal immigrants?
During the latest census of the island, which was conducted in February 2016, 806 people were recorded to live on the island itself. 556 of these people were from Saint Helena. There is no “right of abode” on Ascension Island, mostly due to its importance and classification as a military station. Most of the workers are there on contract, as it is a requirement to have a contract of employment if you are staying on the island for more than three months. There are five settlements: the capital Georgetown, one small civilian village with access to early age (3 to16) education and the others are on British or US bases.
The island is governed by five Councillors who were voted in on 26 September 2019 by 150 of 518 registered electors permitted to cast five votes each. The Governor of St Helena is also Governor of Ascension as a British Overseas Territory. It has its own local laws plus some modified English laws. Employers must provide free accommodation, medical cover and a food allowance.
The main economic activity, apart from military bases and other sensitive organisations, is issue of postage stamps and its international internet domain code .ac, favoured by small UK educational colleges and science museums due to its similarity to .ac.uk, the domain code reserved for well-established UK academic institutions. There is no public transport or taxi service on the island. Wideawake runway has recently been restored but I do not see deportation of “illegal immigrants” as part of the remit of RAF Transport Command.
“We have 1000s of options to house immigrants”
In April 2022, the government announced a five year plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda on a one-way ticket, to claim asylum there. They may be granted refugee status to stay in Rwanda. If not, they can apply to settle there on other grounds, or seek asylum in another “safe third country.” What happened to that plan?
So, in desperation, they hired the ‘Bibby Stockholm’ motorless barge to berth at Portland, only to discover its water tanks had legionnaire’s disease, it’s a fire risk and the local authority and population don’t want it. Read its chequered history here Bibby Stockholm. Did they not know it was turned down for student accommodation for lack of planning permission in Ireland? It hasn’t been used for a long time, so it needed full health checks. So Suella Braverman’s latest plan is now faced with legal action. But “we have 1000s of options to house immigrants,” including Ascension Island.
But there’s nowhere for them to live, they can’t seek asylum there and what happens if they can’t be returned to their country of origin, on an island where there are sparse services and the only work is with classified military organisations? Or is Ascension an option precisely because of its lack of laws and population to complain? When will this government realise the only way to stop the boats is to provide simple, effective procedures for applying for asylum?
