The Home Office spent thousands in taxpayer cash to set up a ‘misleading’ website to deter asylum seekers from travelling to the UK, warning them ‘we will return you’.

On The Move was exposed as a ‘fake organisation’ set up by the government, complete with a logo and website containing numerous pages about the ‘risks’ of making the journey to Britain.

Links to the website were shared on social media as part of a Home Office campaign that cost £23,000 over a five-month period.

The Home Office said the social media posts linking back to the site were sent from its ‘clearly branded’ Facebook and Instagram accounts. It said the campaign was run to deter migrants in France and Belgium from making ‘dangerous attempts’ to enter the UK for which it ‘makes no apologies’.

However, the website uses a .org domain – often associated with charities – and does not state that it is run by the Home Office in its ‘about us’ section.

Website visitors are invited to email On The Move with any questions they have – but are not told that they are in fact contacting the UK government.

Under one section about safe and legal alternatives to migrating to the UK, the site gives details about how to claim asylum in France and Belgium, but not Britain.

One section discussing ‘the realities’ of the asylum process, warns potential migrants that they won’t be able to work in the UK immediately, claim benefits, or get free healthcare.

It says: ‘You will not be eligible for state welfare and in most cases, asylum seekers are given a state allowance of as little as £5 a day to live on.’

The website says Britain ‘regularly returns people who enter via irregular routes’, but since January this year, the UK has not been able to deport asylum seekers to EU states due to Brexit.

Professor Tanja Bueltmann of the University of Strathclyde said the Home Office made a ‘clearly deliberate decision to conceal who is really behind the site’.

She tweeted: ‘These actions obviously represent a complete dereliction of duty – and on several levels.

‘To be very clear: for a Govt department to spread what effectively amounts to misinformation in order to maintain the hostile environment …. it is a truly despicable approach.’

A Freedom of Information request by PA found the Home Office paid £23,000 to place targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram over a five-month period to April, sharing links to the On The Move website.

The posts were written in English, Kurdish, Arabic, Persian and Pashto and carried slogans including ‘we will return you’, ‘don’t put your or your child’s life in danger’ and ‘there is no hiding place’.

‘We make no excuse for providing important and potentially lifesaving information.’

Reducing levels of migration was a key plank of the Vote Leave campaign which was fronted by now Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Home Secretary Priti Patel is pushing for reforms to the UK’s asylum system to give border forces the power to turn away migrant boats at sea.

Under the proposed Nationality and Borders Bill, the UK would also be allowed to send asylum seekers to a ‘safe third country’ or ‘designated places’.

The number of people who have made the dangerous journey across the English Channel in small boats in 2021 has already surpassed last year’s total.

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