The UK was considering a plan to send asylum seekers 4,000 miles to temporary accommodation centers in its remote overseas territories in the South Atlantic. However, the idea, which opponents called ludicrous, was later rejected, the Financial Times reported.

According to the document, the interior ministry has studied the possibility of building detention centers for migrants on the Ascension and Saint Helena islands.

However, Secretary of State for the Home Department Priti Patel scrapped the plan after consulting on the desirability of sending asylum seekers to the islands, FT reported.

"This ludicrous idea is inhumane, completely impractical and wildly expensive. So it seems entirely plausible this Tory Government came up with it," Shadow Home Secretary and Welsh Labour MP for Torfaen Nick Thomas-Symonds tweeted.

This year there has been a sharp increase in the number of migrants arriving in the UK: according to media reports, in August alone, about 1,500 people crossed the Channel in small boats.

In total, over 32,000 asylum applications were filed in the UK during the year.