British territory, about 1,000 miles off Africa, reviewed as contingency option while ministers await Supreme Court judgment in the autumn
Ministers are considering sending Channel migrants to Ascension Island as a contingency plan if the Rwanda scheme falters.
A Government source confirmed ministers are reviewing options as they wait for a Supreme Court judgment this autumn on the legality of plans to deport migrants to Rwanda to claim asylum there.
They are also said to be in talks with five other countries – all believed to be in Africa – to take those who arrive in small boats or in the back of lorries under schemes similar to the deal with Rwanda.
The moves come as the first 20-plus migrants are expected to arrive from hotels to take up their places on the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset, where they will spend up to nine months as their asylum applications are processed.