Tag: small boats

Labour government announces overhaul of immigration system

Home Secretary sets out controversial reforms to the UK’s asylum and returns system

HOME SECRETARY SHABANA MAHMOOD’s STATEMENT TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS YESTERDAY:

I will make a statement about how we restore order and control to our borders. I do so as this Government publishes the most significant reform to our migration system in modern times.  

This country will always offer sanctuary to those fleeing danger, but we must also acknowledge that the world has changed and our asylum system has not changed with it.   

Our world is a more volatile, and more mobile, place. Huge numbers are on the move. While some are refugees, others are economic migrants seeking to use, and abuse, our asylum system. Even genuine refugees are passing through other safe countries searching for the most attractive place to seek refuge.  

The burden that has fallen on this country has been heavy. 400,000 have sought asylum here in the last four years. Over 100,000 people now live in asylum accommodation, and over half of refugees remain on benefits eight years after they have arrived. 

To the British public, who foot the bill, the system feels out of control and unfair. It feels that way, because it is. The pace and scale of change has destabilised communities. It is making our country a more divided place. 

There will never be a justification for the violence and racism of a minority, but if we fail to deal with this crisis, we will draw more people down a path that starts with anger, and ends in hatred.  

I have no doubt about who we really are in this country. We are open, tolerant and generous. But the public rightly expect that we can determine who enters this country, and who must leave.

To maintain the generosity that allows us to provide sanctuary, we must restore order and control. 

[Political content redacted]

My predecessor as Home Secretary picked up this [political content redacted] inheritance, and rebuilt the foundations of a collapsed asylum system. 

Decision making has been restored, with a backlog now 18% lower than when we entered office. Removals have increased – reaching nearly 50,000 under this Government. 

Immigration enforcement has hit record levels, with over 8,000 arrests in the last year. 

The Border Security Bill is progressing through parliament, and my predecessor struck a historic agreement with the French, which means small boat arrivals can now be sent back to France. 

These are vital steps, but we must go further. Today, we have published “Restoring Order and Control”, a new statement on our asylum policy. Its goals are two-fold: firstly, to reduce illegal arrivals into this country, and secondly, to increase removals of those with no right to be here.  

It starts by accepting an uncomfortable truth: while asylum claims fall across Europe, they are rising here, and that is because of the comparative generosity of our asylum offer when compared to so many of our European neighbours.

This generosity is a factor that draws people to these shores, on a path that runs through other safe countries. Nearly 40 percent come on small boats and over perilous channel crossings, but a roughly equal number come here legally, via a visitor, work or study visa, and then go on to claim asylum.  

They do so because refugee status is the most generous route into this country. An initial grant lasts five years, which is then converted, almost automatically, into permanent settled status. In other European countries, things are done differently.

In Denmark, refugee status is temporary, and they provide safety and sanctuary until it is possible for a refugee to return home. In recent years, asylum claims have hit a 40-year low, and now, across Europe, countries are tightening their systems in similar ways.  

We must act too. We will do so by making refugee status temporary, not permanent. A grant of refugee status will last two and a half years, not five. It will be renewed only if it is impossible for a refugee to return home. Permanent settlement will now come at 20 years, not five. 

I know this country welcomes people who contribute. For those who want to stay, and are willing and able to, we will create a new ‘work and study’ visa route, solely for refugees, with a quicker path to permanent settlement.   

To encourage refugees into work, we will also consult on removing benefits for those who are able to work but choose not to.  

Outside of the most exceptional circumstances, family reunion will not be possible, with a refugee only able to bring family over if they have joined a work and study route, and if qualifying tests are met.  

While over 50,000 were granted refugee status in the last year, more than 100,000 claimants and failed asylum seekers remain in taxpayer funded accommodation, and we know that criminal gangs use the prospect of free bed and board to promote their small boat crossings. 

We have already announced that we will empty asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament, and we are exploring a number of large military sites as an alternative.  

We will now also remove the 2005 legislation that created a “duty” to support asylum seekers, reverting to a legal “power” to do so instead. While we will continue to support those who play by the rules, those who do not – be that through criminality or anti-social behaviour – can have their support removed. We will also remove our duty to support those who have a right to work.   

It is right that those who do receive support, pay for it if they can, so those with income or assets will have to contribute to the cost of their stay. This will end the absurdity that we currently experience. Where an asylum seeker receiving £800 each month from his family, and who had recently acquired an Audi, was receiving free housing at the taxpayers’ expense, and the courts judged we could do nothing about it.   

These measures are designed to tackle the pull factors that draw people to this country, but reducing the number of arrivals is just half of the story. We must also enforce our rules and remove those who have no right to be here. This will mean restarting removals to countries where they have been paused.  

In recent months, we have begun voluntary removal of failed asylum seekers to Syria once again; however, there are still many failed asylum seekers here from Syria, most of whom fled a regime that has since been toppled. Other countries are planning to enforce removals, and we will follow suit. Where a failed asylum seeker cannot be returned home, we will also continue to explore the possibility of return hubs, with negotiations ongoing.  

We must remove those who have failed asylum claims, regardless of who they are. Today, we are not removing family groups – even when we know that their home country is perfectly safe. There are, for instance, around 700 Albanian families living in taxpayer-funded accommodation having failed their asylum claims.

This is true despite an existing returns agreement, and that Albania is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. So, we will now begin the removal of families. Where possible, we will encourage a voluntary return, but where an enforced return is necessary, that is what we will do.  

Where the barrier to a return is not the individual, nor the UK Government, but the receiving country, we will take action.

I can announce today that we have told Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Namibia that if they do not comply with international rules and norms we will impose visa penalties on them. And I am sending a wider message here: unless other countries heed this lesson, further sanctions will follow.  

Much of the delay in our removals, however, comes from the sclerotic nature of our own system. In March of this year, the appeals backlog stood at 51,000 cases. This Government has already increased judicial sitting days, but reform is required, so we will create a new appeals body, staffed by professional independent adjudicators, and we will ensure there is early legal representation available to advise claimants and ensure their issues are properly considered.  

Cases with a low chance of success will be fast-tracked, and claimants will have just one opportunity to claim and one to appeal, ending the merry-go-round of claims and appeals that frustrate so many removals.  

While some barriers to removal are the result of process, others are substantive issues related to the law itself. There is no doubt that the expanded interpretation of parts of the European Convention on Human Rights has contributed.

This is particularly true of Article 8: the right to a family life. The courts have adopted an ever-expanding interpretation of this right.

As a result, many people have been allowed to come to this country, when they would otherwise have had no right to, and we have been unable to remove others when the case for doing so seems overwhelming. 

This includes cases like an arsonist, sentenced to five years in prison whose deportation was blocked on the grounds that his relationship with his sibling may suffer.

More than half of those detained are now delaying or blocking their removal by raising a last-minute rights claim.  

Article 8 is a qualified right: that means we are not prevented from removing individuals or refusing an application to move to the UK if it is “in the public interest”. To narrow Article 8 rights, we will therefore make three important changes, in both domestic law and our immigration rules.  

Firstly, we will define what, exactly, a family is – narrowing this down to parents and their children.  

Secondly, we will define “the public interest” test so the default becomes a removal or refusal, with Article 8 rights only permissible in the most exceptional circumstances.   

Thirdly, we will tighten where Article 8 claims can be heard, ensuring only those who are living in the UK can lodge a claim, rather than their family members overseas, and that all claims are heard first by the Home Office and not in a courtroom.  

We will also pursue international reform of a second element of the European Convention: the application of Article 3 – the prohibition on torture and inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment.

We will never return anyone to be tortured in their home country, but the definition of “degrading treatment” has expanded into the realm of the ridiculous.

Today, we have criminals we seek to deport, but discover we cannot because the prisons in their home country have cells that are deemed too small, or even mental health provision that is not as good as our own. 

As Article 3 is an absolute right, a public interest test cannot be applied. For that reason, we are seeking reform at the Council of Europe, and we do so alongside international partners who have raised similar concerns. But it is not just international law that binds us.

According to data from 2022, over 40% of those detained for removal claimed they were modern-day slaves. This well-intentioned law is being abused by those who seek to frustrate a legitimate removal.

So, I will bring forward legislation that tightens the Modern Slavery system to ensure that it protects those it was designed for, and not those who seek to abuse it.  

Taken together Madam Deputy Speaker, these are significant reforms. They are designed to ensure our asylum system is fit for the modern world, and that we retain public consent for the very idea of providing refuge. 

We will always be a country that offers protection to those fleeing peril, just as we did, in recent years, when Ukraine was invaded, when Afghanistan was evacuated, and when we repatriated Hong Kongers. 

For that reason, as order and control is restored, we will open new, capped, safe and legal routes into this country. These will make sponsorship the primary means by which we resettle refugees, with voluntary and community organisations given greater involvement, to both receive refugees and support them, working within caps set by Government.  

We will also create a new route for displaced students to study in the UK, and another for skilled refugees to work here. Of course, we will always remain flexible to new crises, across the world, as they happen.  

I know the British people do not want to close the doors. But until we restore order and control, those who seek to divide us will grow stronger. 

It is our job – [political content redacted] – to unite where there is division, so we must now build an asylum system for the world as it is. One that restores order and control. One that opens safe and legal routes to those fleeing danger across the world, and one that sustains our commitment to providing refuge for this generation and those to come.  

I know the country we are. We are open, tolerant and generous. We are the greater Britain that those on this side of the House believe in. Not the littler England that some would wish we would become. These reforms are designed to bring unity, where others seek to divide.   

Madam Deputy Speaker, I commend this statement to the House.

Campaigning organisation Asylum Matters said: ‘Today’s asylum reforms put the basic principle of refugee protection under threat. They won’t stop irregular migration.

‘But they would make us a country that has given in to extremists and abandoned vital protection principles set up after the horrors of the Second World War.’

New digital ID scheme to be rolled out across UK

  • Prime Minister announces plans for free digital ID for those living in the UK
  • Will curb the prospect of work for illegal migrants, a significant factor driving small boat crossings
  • Scheme will also make it easier for the public to access the services they are entitled to

A new digital ID scheme will help combat illegal working while making it easier for the vast majority of people to use vital government services. Digital ID will be mandatory for Right to Work checks by the end of the Parliament.

The scheme will be available to all UK citizens and legal residents, saving time by ending the need for complicated identity checks which often rely on copies of paper records. 

Instead, the roll-out will in time make it simpler to apply for services like driving licences, childcare and welfare, while streamlining access to tax records. The new digital ID will be held on people’s phones, just as millions already use the NHS App or contactless mobile payments.

There will be no requirement for individuals to carry their ID or be asked to produce it – but digital ID will be mandatory as a means of proving your Right to Work.

This will stop those with no right to be here from being able to find work, curbing their prospect of earning money, one of the key “pull factors” for people who come to the UK illegally.

It will send a clear message that if you come here illegally, you will not be able to work, deterring people from making these dangerous journeys.

This initiative builds on the government’s crackdown on illegal working and its mission to control borders as part of the Plan for Change. Under this government, illegal working arrests have soared by 50%, and new legislation is being brought forward to help stop illegal working in the gig economy.

The proposals also follow the government’s success in deporting the first illegal migrants under the landmark UK-France returns deal last week.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “I know working people are worried about the level of illegal migration into this country. A secure border and controlled migration are reasonable demands, and this government is listening and delivering.

“Digital ID is an enormous opportunity for the UK. It will make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure. And it will also offer ordinary citizens countless benefits, like being able to prove your identity to access key services swiftly – rather than hunting around for an old utility bill.

“We are doing the hard graft to deliver a fairer Britain for those who want to see change, not division. That is at the heart of our Plan for Change, which is focused on delivering for those who want to see their communities thrive again.”

The plan will combat criminal gangs who promise access to the UK labour market in order to profit from dangerous, illegal channel crossings.

A new streamlined digital system to check Right to Work will simplify the process, drive up compliance, crack down on forged documents and create intelligence data on businesses that are conducting checks to help the Home Office take action on employers who are hiring illegally. 

Building on the work already underway to roll out a GOV.UK digital wallet, the digital ID will sit on people’s phones, alongside the digital driving licence which the government has already announced plans to introduce.

The government will listen to a range of views on how the service will be delivered, as part of a public consultation to be launched later this year.

In designing the digital ID scheme, the government will ensure that it works for those who aren’t able to use a smartphone, with inclusion at the heart of its design. The public consultation will engage with groups who aren’t as experienced with the digital world, like the homeless and older people, learning from other countries that have done this well. 

The scheme will be rolled out alongside an outreach programme, including face-to-face support for citizens who are struggling to access the scheme. 

This will result in a service that takes the best aspects of the digital identification systems that are already up and running around the world:

  • In Australia, citizens can access a range of private services, from banking to buying alcohol, with their digital identification, reducing the need for multiple separate accounts and pieces of paper.
  • In Estonia, digital ID has revolutionised parents’ lives by enabling access to child benefits, health records and applications for nursery places seamlessly, never having to provide the same information twice.
  • In Denmark, students can use their national digital ID to log in and automatically retrieve education records and qualifications in job and university applications.
  • And in India, the government has saved around US $10 billion annually by reducing fraud and leakages in welfare schemes.

The new plans will offer significant benefits for reducing identity theft and preserving privacy, with security at its core.

Digital ID limits personal details being shared unnecessarily, by only sharing the relevant information for the specific scenario in question. It will also use state-of-the-art encryption and user authentication to ensure data is held and accessed securely.

Land of Hope and Glory? Cooper flies the flag on immigration

HOME SECRETARY UPDATES WESTMINSTER FOLLOWING SUMMER RECESS

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper made a statement in parliament yesterday on actions the government is taking with France to strengthen border security and reforms to the asylum system:

Mr Speaker, with your permission, I will update the House on the actions we are taking with France to strengthen our border security and the next steps on our reforms to the asylum system.  

Now to be aware when we came into the government, we found an asylum and immigration system in chaos.    

Small boat gangs for 7 years had been allowed to embed their criminal trade along the French coast. The asylum backlog was soaring. Illegal working was being ignored. 

It is little wonder that people right across the country lost confidence in the system and demanded to know why they were paying the price of a system that was so out of control.  

But that does not mean people rejected the long and proud history of Britain doing our bit to help those fleeing persecution or conflict – including in the past decade families from Ukraine, Syria and Hong Kong.  

It is the British way, to do our bit alongside other countries to help those who need sanctuary.  

But the system has to be controlled and managed, based on fair and properly enforced rules, not chaos and exploitation driven by criminal smuggler gangs. 

It is exactly because of that important tradition, that substantial reforms are needed now.

In our first year, we have taken immediate action, laying the foundations for more fundamental reform.  

We have restored asylum decision making and then rapidly increased the rate of decisions.   

Instead, we removed 35,000 people with no right to be here, including a 28% increase in returns of failed asylum seekers and a 14% increase in removals of foreign criminals. 

We have increased raids and arrests on illegal working by 50%, and we cut the annual hotel bill by almost a billion pounds in the last financial year. We are rolling out digital ID and biometric kits so immigration enforcement can check on the spot whether someone has a right to work or a right to be in the UK. 

And on Channel crossings and organised immigration crime we are putting in place new powers, new structures and new international agreements to help dismantle the criminal industry behind small boats.  

I want to update the House on the further steps we are now taking. 

In August I signed the new treaty with France allowing us for the first time to directly return those who arrive on small boats. 

The first detentions took place the next day – of people immediately on arrival at Dover. 

We expect the first returns to begin later this month.  

Applications have also been opened for the reciprocal legal route, with the first cases under consideration, subject to the strict security checks. 

We have made clear this is a pilot scheme – the more that we prove the concept at the outset, the better we will be able to develop and grow it.  

But the principles it embodies are crucial. 

Because no one should be making these dangerous or illegal journeys on small boats.

And if they do, we want to see them swiftly returned. 

But in return, we believe in doing our bit alongside other countries to help those who have fled persecution through managed and controlled legal programmes.  

This summer we have also taken further action to strengthen enforcement against the smuggling gangs. 

France has reviewed its maritime approach to allow for the interception of taxi boats in French waters, and we will continue to work with them to implement this change as soon as possible. 

In the last year, the NCA has led 347 disruptions of immigration crime networks – their highest level on record and a 40% increase in a year.  

Over the summer, we announced a £100 million uplift in funding for border security and up to 300 more personnel in the NCA focussing on targeting gangs. 

The Border Security Bill will give them stronger powers. Counter terrorism powers against smuggler gangs and powers to seize and download mobile phones of small boat arrivals.  

And the power to ban sex offenders from the asylum system altogether.

Those powers could be in place within months, making our country safer and more secure. (Political content redacted)

Let me turn now to the major reforms that are needed to fix the broken asylum system we inherited. 

Although we have increased decision making and increased returns the overall system remains outdated, sclerotic and unfair. 

So, as we set out in the Immigration White Paper, we will shortly set out radical reforms to modernise the asylum system and boost our border security.

Tackling the pull factors. Strengthening enforcement. Making sure people are treated fairly. Reforming the way that the ECHR is interpreted here at home. Speeding up the system, cutting numbers and ending the use of hotels. And developing controlled and managed routes for genuine refugees.  

At the heart of these reforms will be a complete overhaul of the appeals system. 

The biggest obstacle to reducing the size of the asylum system and ending hotel use.  

Tens of thousands of people in asylum accommodation are currently waiting for appeals and under the current system that figure is set to grow, with an average wait time of 54 weeks. 

We have already funded thousands of additional sitting days this year.

And the Border Security Bill will introduce a statutory timeframe of 24 weeks. 

But we need to go further. So, we will introduce a new independent body to deal with immigration and asylum appeals fully independent of government, staffed by professionally trained adjudicators, with safeguards to ensure high standards but able to surge capacity as needed and accelerate and prioritise cases, alongside new procedures to tackle repeat applications and unnecessary delays. 

We are also increasing detention and returns capacity – including a 1,000-bed expansion at Campsfield and Haslar, with the first tranche of additional beds coming online within months to support many thousands more enforced removals each year.  

Our reforms will also address the overly complex system for family migration, including changes to the way Article 8 of the ECHR is interpreted.

We should be clear that international law is important – it is because other countries know we abide by it that we have been able to do new agreements with France to return people who arrive on small boats, to make new agreements with Germany to stop the warehousing of small boats by criminal gangs and to explore return hubs partnerships with other European countries. 

But we also need the interpretation of international law to keep up with the realities and challenges of today’s world.  

But there is one area where we also need to make more immediate changes. 

The current rules for family reunion for refugees were designed many years ago to help families separated by war, conflict and persecution.  

But the way they are being used now has changed. 

Even just before the pandemic, refugees who applied to bring family to the UK did so on average more than 1 or 2 years after they were granted protection.  

Long enough for them to get jobs, find housing and be able to provide their family with some support.  

In Denmark and Switzerland, currently those granted humanitarian protection are not able to apply to bring family for at least 2 years after protection has been granted.  

Here in the UK now however those applications now come in on average within 1 month, even before a newly granted refugee has left asylum accommodation. As a consequence, refugee families who arrive are far more likely to seek homelessness assistance.  

Some councils are finding that more than a quarter of their family homelessness applications are linked to refugee family reunion. That is not sustainable.  

Currently there are also no conditions on family reunion for refugee sponsors unlike those in place if the sponsor is a British citizen or a long-term UK resident. That is not fair.

Finally, the proportion of migrants who have arrived on small boats and who then apply to bring family has also increased sharply in recent years.  

With signs that smuggler gangs are now able to use the promise of family reunion to promote dangerous boat journeys to the UK. 

Mr Speaker, we continue to believe that families staying together is important. It is why we will seek to prioritise family groups among the applicants to come to Britain under our new deal with France. 

But reforms are needed.  In our asylum policy statement later this year, we will set out a new system for family migration. 

Including contribution requirements, longer periods before newly granted refugees can apply, and dedicated control arrangements for unaccompanied children, and for those fleeing persecution who have family in the UK. We aim to have some of those changes in place for the spring. 

In the meantime, we need do to address the immediate pressures on local authorities. 

And the risks from criminal gangs using family reunion as a pull factor to encourage more people onto boats. 

Therefore, we are bringing forward new Immigration Rules this week to temporarily suspend new applications under the existing dedicated Refugee Family Reunion route. Until the new framework is introduced, refugees will be covered by the same Family Migration rules and conditions as everyone else.  

Mr Speaker, let me turn next to the action we are taking to ensure that every asylum hotel will be closed for good under this government. 

Not just by shifting individuals from hotels to other sites, but by driving down the numbers in supported accommodation overall. 

Not in a chaotic way, through piecemeal court judgements, but through a controlled, managed and orderly programme, driving down inflow into the asylum system, clearing the appeals backlog which is crucial, and continuing to increase returns.  

Within the asylum estate, we are reconfiguring sites, increasing room-sharing, tightening the test for accommodation and working at pace to identify alternative cheaper and more appropriate accommodation with other government departments and with local authorities.  

And we are increasing standards and security and joint public safety cooperation between the police, accommodation providers and the Home Office to ensure that laws and rules are enforced.  

Mr Speaker, I understand and agree with local councils and communities who want the asylum hotels in their communities closed.  

Because we need to close all asylum hotels, and we need to do so for good. 

But that must be done in a controlled and orderly manner, (…) that led to the opening of hotels in the first place.

Finally, Mr Speaker, let me update the House on the continued legal and controlled support we will provide for those facing conflict and persecution.   

We will continue to do our bit to support Ukraine – extending the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme by a further 24 months, with further details to be set out in due course. 

We are also taking immediate action to rescue children who have been seriously injured in the horrendous onslaught on civilians in Gaza so they can get the urgent health treatment they need. 

The Foreign Secretary will update the House shortly on the progress to get those children out. 

I can confirm the Home Office has put in place systems to issue expedited visas, with biometric checks conducted prior to arrival for children and their immediate accompanying family members. 

We have done the same for all the Chevening scholars and are in the process of doing so now for the next group of students who have been awarded fully funded scholarships and places at UK universities so they can start their studies in Autumn this year. 

Later this year, we will set out our plans to establish a permanent framework for refugee students to come study in the UK so that we can help talented young people fleeing war and persecution to find a better future. Alongside capped and managed ways for refugees to work here in the UK. 

Mr Speaker, this is a government determined to fix every aspect of the broken system we inherited and restore the confidence of the British people. 

What we will never do is seek to stir up chaos, division or hate. 

That is not who we are as a country. That is not what Britain stands for. 

A practical plan to strengthen our border security, to fix the asylum chaos and to rebuild confidence in an asylum and immigration system that serves our national interest, protects our national security, and reflects our national values. 

Because, when we wave the Union Flag, when we wave the St George’s Flag, when we sing God Save The King, and celebrate everything that is great about Britain and about our country.

We do so with pride because of the values that our flags, our King, and our country represent. 

Togetherness, Fairness and Decency. 

Respect for each other, and respect for the Rule of Law. 

That is what our country stands for. 

That is the British way to fix the problems we face. 

And I commend this statement to the House.

UK and France agree ‘major deal’ to crack down on illegal Channel crossings

The Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to take forward a groundbreaking partnership to address illegal Channel crossings and dismantle the people smuggling networks.

A new pilot scheme will see small boat arrivals being returned to France then an equal number of migrants will be able to come to the UK from France through a new legal route – fully documented and subject to strict security checks.

The pilot agreement is intended to prevent illegal migrant journeys across Europe to the UK and prevent dangerous small boat crossings, helping to undermine the business model of organised gangs profiting from people’s misery by showing others these journeys could result in them being returned back to France – ultimately saving lives.

Both countries are working to implement the pilot in the coming weeks, and, once in force, migrants who cross the Channel by small boat can be detained and removed.

The Prime Minister has made it a priority to reset relationships across Europe and the government is now unlocking, for the first time, the levels of co-operation needed to deliver new and bold approaches to tackle organised immigration crime.

The French government are working to implement new ways of cracking down on small boats, including a review of their maritime tactics so their operational teams can intervene on the water, ensuring taxi boats that pickup migrants waiting in the water can be stopped.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “This ground-breaking deal is a crucial further step in turning the tide on illegal small boat crossings and restoring order to our immigration system.

“For the first time illegal migrants will be sent back to France – targeting the heart of these gangs’ business model and sending a clear message that these life-threatening journeys are pointless.

“By resetting our relationships across Europe we’ve made levels of co-operation possible never seen before. This is about grip not gimmicks, and what serious government looks like – taking down these criminal enterprises piece by piece as we secure our borders through my Plan for Change.”

The Home Secretary hosted her French counterpart, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, in Downing Street yesterday. The ministers discussed the work being done both internationally and domestically to prevent illegal migration, including issues like clamping down on illegal working and increasing removals of those with no right to be here.

Since the government came into power, Immigration Enforcement have increased illegal working activity by 51%, with 10,031 visits leading to 7,130 arrests, and will soon undertake a major nationwide blitz targeting illegal working hotspots, focusing on the gig economy and migrants working as delivery riders.

The UK will go further by changing the law to support a clampdown on illegal working in the gig economy. New biometric kits will be rolled out for Immigration Enforcement teams so they can do on-the-spot checks.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Dangerous small boats in our Channel undermine our border security and put lives at risk.

“That is why we are so determined to work with France to go after the criminal smuggler gangs, to undermine their business model, to begin returns and to prevent boat crossings.

“This new pilot agreement with France is extremely important and allows us for the first time to return people who have paid to travel here illegally, and will sit alongside our wider joint enforcement action, including disrupting supply chains to seize boats and engines, shutting down social media accounts, and targeting finances.

“Since last summer, we have returned over 30,000 people with no right to be in the UK and a major surge in immigration enforcement activity, with a 51% increase in the number of illegal working arrests.

“We are building the foundations of a new and stronger approach to protecting our border security.”

Under the new UK-France pilot, any asylum claim submitted by a migrant who has crossed the Channel will be considered for inadmissibility and, if declared inadmissible, the Home Office will organise readmission of the individual to France.

For those coming to the UK legally, an individual in France will submit an Expression of Interest application to the new route and the Home Office will make a decision once they have undergone biometric checks. Anyone who had arrived by small boat and returned to France will not be eligible for the legal route to the UK.

The innovative approach will be tested first before being gradually ‘ramped up’.

Serious Crime laws to be overhauled to combat people-smuggling gangs

Suspected people smugglers will face travel bans, social media blackouts and restrictions on phone usage under tough new laws to dismantle organised immigration crime networks

In a major upgrade to Serious Crime Prevention Orders, new Interim Orders will allow immediate action to disrupt and deter suspected serious criminality.

These orders are part of a stronger approach to organised crime which will form part of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. This new approach will level up our response to serious crime including organised immigration crime, with new powers mirroring those which are already used to disrupt other harmful criminality such as knife crime, slavery and trafficking.

The Bill will improve border security, a key foundation for delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change.

Currently, securing a Serious Crime Prevention Order imposed on suspects, including people smugglers, can be a complex and lengthy process, restricting the use of this powerful tool. 

Interim Orders will go further, speeding up the process for placing restrictions on people under investigation to prevent, deter and disrupt serious and organised crime, including people smuggling. These new Interim Orders will allow the National Crime Agency (NCA), the police and other law enforcement agencies to apply directly to the High Court to impose immediate restrictions while a full Order is considered.

By taking immediate action at an early stage, without requiring a conviction, these Interim Orders will help crack down on people smugglers and other forms of serious and organised crime. This will strengthen the tools of law enforcement to disrupt these individuals who are operating in the UK, in some cases allowing investigations and prosecutions to continue whilst preventing further serious criminality from taking place.

The new orders will form an important part of preventing organised immigration crime while complementing the UK’s relentless pursuit of criminal gangs.

Restrictions will vary on a case-by-case basis but could include:

  • Travel restrictions
  • A ban on laptop or mobile phone usage
  • A ban on accessing social media networks, including via a third party
  • Restrictions on whom someone can associate with
  • Restrictions on devices and communications with certain individuals
  • Restrictions on their finances, helping to prevent criminal proceeds from going under the radar.

Breaching an Interim Order could lead to up to five years in prison.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Dangerous criminal people-smugglers are profiting from undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. They cannot be allowed to get away with it.

“Stronger international collaboration has already led to important arrests and action against dangerous gangs over the last few months. We will give law enforcement stronger powers they need to pursue and stop more of these vile gang networks.

“Border security is one of the foundations of this government’s Plan for Change, including making people better off, delivering safer streets and strengthening our NHS, and we will do everything in our power to deliver for working people.”

The announcement comes in the same week as the disruption of a major Afghan people-smuggling ring by a joint operation between the NCA and Belgian authorities, with support from Immigration Enforcement and Border Force officers. Three individuals were arrested in the UK after fleeing Belgium in a small boat to avoid prosecution.

This is the latest development in the Westminster government’s crackdown on people-smuggling gangs and the new Border Security Command which is bringing together operational leads to disrupt more gangs across the continent, break their business model and bring them to justice.

The trio were found guilty of being part of an organised crime group responsible for transporting thousands of migrants into Europe, including some to the UK on small boats. The group also committed serious sexual offences against male migrant minors. They now face extradition back to Belgium to face justice, where last month a court in Antwerp convicted and sentenced the trio and 20 other members of the gang to a total of 170 years imprisonment, with sentences ranging from two to 18 years.

The landmark Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will strengthen the operational activity of the new Border Security Command, backed up with £150 million, and bringing together key operational experts including Immigration Enforcement, Border Force and vital partners like the NCA. Further measures in the legislation will be brought forward to tackle all aspects of organised immigration crime.

According to the UK government, in just under six months, there has been major progress in increasing enforcement and restoring order to the chaotic asylum system, stopping the Rwanda plan and restarting asylum processing to start bringing the backlog down. This work has already seen almost 13,500 people with no right to be here returned since the election. 

The government’s wide-ranging approach to tackling illegal migration also includes strengthened global partnerships. The UK has signed new agreements with Germany and Iraq to tackle people-smuggling gangs and has enhanced co-operation with the Calais Group. 

Starmer unveils ‘game changing’ investment to tackle national security threat from people smuggling gangs

Prime Minister set to announce an additional £75 million to boost border security, bringing the investment in the Border Security Command over the next two years to £150 million

  • PM to outline major investments to smash criminal smuggling gangs at INTERPOL General Assembly in Glasgow
  • New capabilities for Border Security Command from £150 million funding pot to drive down Organised Immigration Crime both at home and overseas 
  • New additional funding will cover state-of-the-art tech and information centres, boosts to enforcement and intelligence resourcing and expanding CPS capacity

The Prime Minister is set to announce an additional £75 million to boost border security, bringing the investment in the Border Security Command over the next two years to £150 million. 

Marking the first time the INTERPOL General Assembly has been hosted in the UK in over 50 years, Keir Starmer will today (4 November) open the Assembly in Glasgow by setting out his personal mission to smash the people smuggling gangs by resetting the UK’s whole approach to this challenge and intensifying international collaboration to meet the global scale of the threat.

The General Assembly is INTERPOL’s supreme governing body and comprises senior ministerial and policing leads from the organisation’s 196 member states. 

In his speech, the Prime Minister will set out his plans to draw on his experience of bringing together agencies to tackle international terrorist and drug smuggling gangs during his time as Director of Public Prosecutions to dismantle the people smuggling gangs who drive illegal migration, profit from human misery and represent a serious threat to global security. 

He will also set out how the £150 million will provide additional specialist investigators and state of the art surveillance equipment to ensure those behind this criminal activity are stopped and brought to justice. 

This major funding boost for the government’s new Border Security Command will initially be directed towards a range of enforcement and intelligence activity, including:

  • Investing heavily in NCA technology and capabilities, delivering advanced data exploitation and improvements to technologies to boost collaboration with European partners to investigate and break people smuggling networks.
  • 300 staff for the new Border Security Command, who will strengthen global partnerships, deliver new legislation and lead the system through investment and strategy.
  • 100 specialist investigators and intelligence officers for the NCA, dedicated to tackling criminals who facilitate people smuggling. 
  • Creating a new specialist OIC Intelligence Source Unit which will cohere intelligence flows from key police forces. 
  • Boosting the Crown Prosecution Service’s ability to deliver charging decisions more quickly on international organised crime cases. 

The Border Security Command, led by Martin Hewitt CBE QPM, will be provided with enhanced powers – through a new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill – to tackle organised immigration crime whilst providing for strong and effective border security. 

New measures will make it easier to detect, disrupt and deter those seeking to engage in and benefit from organised immigration crime. The Command will also coordinate the work of intelligence agencies and law enforcement, who lead joint investigations with European counterparts to ensure we can bring those responsible to justice.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will say: “The world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge.  I was elected to deliver security for the British people. And strong borders are a part of that. But security doesn’t stop at our borders.  

“There’s nothing progressive about turning a blind eye as men, women and children die in the Channel.

“This is a vile trade that must be stamped out – wherever it thrives. So we’re taking our approach to counter-terrorism – which we know works, and applying it to the gangs, with our new Border Security Command. 

“We’re ending the fragmentation between policing, Border Force and our intelligence agencies.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Criminal smuggler gangs profit from undermining our border security and putting lives at risk and they have been getting away with it for far too long.

“Our new Border Security Command, with the investment set out today, will mean a huge step change in the way we target these criminal gangs.

“People smugglers and traffickers operate in networks across borders, that’s why we have launched a major boost to our cooperation with international partners including other European countries, the G7 and Europol, and why we are so pleased to be hosting the INTERPOL conference on tackling international crime in Glasgow today.”

The Prime Minister will also announce that the UK Government has increased its in-year support for INTERPOL’s global operations through a £6 million investment which harnesses the organisation’s unique capabilities to tackle serious organised crime affecting the UK. 

Addressing the General Assembly, the Prime Minister will say that closer cooperation with international partners is key as he details how the gangs’ operations span from the money markets in Kabul through to the Kurdish region of Iraq and right across Europe and into the UK. 

He will stress the government’s ongoing commitment to strengthening security agreements to facilitate greater sharing of intelligence and more joint operational work, in particular through Europol. 

The Home Office will also invest £24m in the new financial year to tackle international serious organised crime affecting the UK including drugs and firearms, fraud, trafficking and exploitation. Funds will in part be used to bolster work done by special prosecutors and operational partners in the Western Balkans.

There were more than 5,000 drug related deaths in 2023, with most of the illegal drugs causing these coming from overseas or facilitated by transnational gangs. ISOC funding will also be used to tackle drug smuggling upstream and at the UK border, building on recent successes, such as the effective collaboration with the US and Ecuador, which has resulted in the seizure of 19 tonnes of cocaine.

National Crime Agency Director General Graeme Biggar said: “Serious and organised crime causes more harm, to more people, more often than any other national security threat.

“And almost all of serious and organised crime now has an international nexus. Distance, borders and languages are meaningless to criminals. This is why collaborations with INTERPOL have never been as important as they are today.

“Tackling organised crime, and especially immigration crime, remains a top priority for the NCA. We are currently leading around 70 investigations into the gangs or individuals involved in the highest echelons of this type of criminality, and we are devoting more resources to it than ever before.

“We have built up our intelligence sharing effort with law enforcement partners across Europe and beyond, including having more NCA officers based overseas, sharing intelligence and working side by side on joint investigations.

“This approach is bringing operational results with arrests and prosecutions, but we are also we are seeking to disrupt the people smugglers’ business model, through targeting their social media offering, their supply routes for equipment, and their financial flows.

“We are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle these networks, wherever they operate.”

The announcement comes a month after Britain joined up to a new G7 anti migrant smuggling action plan which included pledges to bolster border security, combat transnational organised crime, and protect vulnerable individuals from exploitation by smugglers. 

The plan includes new, intelligence-led joint investigative actions to target criminal smuggling routes, working with social media platforms and internet providers to remove harmful content promoting illegal migration services or advertising fake job opportunities, and strengthening capabilities to monitor and anticipate irregular migration flows at both global and regional levels.

G7 nations agree new plan to dismantle migrant smuggling gangs

The Home Secretary has agreed a major international plan to smash criminal gangs responsible for smuggling illegal migrants into G7 nations

The G7 Anti-Smuggling Action Plan will deliver a boost to UK law enforcement by fostering closer cooperation with G7 partners to bolster border security, combat transnational organised crime, and protect vulnerable individuals from exploitation by migrant smugglers.

New joint investigative actions will be carried out by law enforcement teams to target criminal smuggling routes, while intelligence sharing between G7 nations will ensure faster identification and disruption of these dangerous networks.

This approach will enhance the capabilities of the Border Security Command and its new Commander Martin Hewitt CBE QPM in coordinating investigations with international partners to reduce illegal migration to the UK.

Other measures announced in the plan include: 

  • sharing best practice, including disrupting supply chains that facilitate people-smuggling, such as small boat parts, seizing the illegal financial assets of criminals, and improving cooperation across global transport routes
  • working with social media platforms and internet providers to remove harmful content that promotes illegal migration services or advertises fake job opportunities
  • strengthening capabilities to monitor and anticipate irregular migration flows at both global and regional levels

The agreement comes after discussions by the Home Secretary at the G7 Interior and Security Ministers’ meeting in Avellino, Italy, this week. It marks another step in the UK’s reset of relations with key allies and affirms a shared commitment to working together to tackle complex cross-border issues. 

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Criminal smuggling gangs who organise small boat crossings undermine our border security and put lives at risk. Our new government is rapidly accelerating cooperation with other countries to crack down on these dangerous gangs.

“Today’s newly agreed G7 action plan provides an important focus on international law enforcement and reflects our determination to work with global partners on these shared challenges. New international joint investigative teams will help coordinate cross-border action and supplement the measures we have already taken to set up the UK Border Security Command and back it with new funding.

“The plan will help to increase both voluntary and enforced returns of migrants to countries of origin. It aims to offer migrants more choices and improve the overall management of migration flows.”

Instrumental to delivery of this plan in the UK is the new Border Security Command, under the leadership of Martin Hewitt CBE QPM, which will be armed with enhanced powers and coordinate the work of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

It will coordinate investigations with European counterparts and will benefit from a £75 million investment in cutting-edge technology, additional officers, and new covert capabilities.

In July, the government committed a further £84 million to addressing the root causes of irregular migration. This funding will go towards programmes aimed at tackling the drivers of migration at their source, reducing the need for dangerous and irregular journeys.

Since taking office, the Home Secretary has increased efforts to work with international partners to tackle the challenges posed by irregular migration.

This has included engagement with the United States Attorney General, Merrick Garland, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, and Executive Director of Europol, Catherine De Bolle.

The UK will continue to drive focus on tackling migrant smuggling with the G7 under Canada’s presidency next year, and at next month’s INTERPOL General Assembly in Glasgow.

Asylum accommodation and Rwanda: Little to show for money spent so far, PAC report finds

Westminster’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has published its report scrutinising asylum accommodation and the UK-Rwanda Partnership.

The report finds that, despite the Home Office committing significant sums of money to the Rwanda partnership and its large accommodation sites, there is little to show for the money spent so far.

Questions also remain as to what will happen to the more than 50,000 people left in limbo by the system – people who are living in the UK, with no ability to claim asylum, who are officially “pending relocation”.

On asylum accommodation, the report welcomes Government’s progress in closing asylum hotels in communities.

However, the report finds the Home Office’s assessment of the requirements for setting up alternative accommodation in large sites fell woefully short of reality and risked wasting taxpayers’ money, while the new sites will not house anywhere near as many people as initially expected, exacerbating existing accommodation issues.

No case for routinely offering asylum to claimants from ‘safe’ Albania

A report published today by the Home Affairs Committee has found little evidence to indicate significant numbers of Albanian nationals are at risk in their own country and require asylum in the UK.  

However, some Albanian citizens making asylum claims will have been trafficked, and women are disproportionately at risk from this form of crime. The UK has an obligation to support trafficking victims and they should only be returned to Albania if appropriate safeguards are in place. 

In 2022, more than a quarter of the 45,755 people who crossed the Channel in small boats came from Albania and most claimed asylum. In one year the number of Albanians arriving in the UK by this route had gone from 800 to 12,301, a rise that was both unexpected and unexplained. 

Albania is a safe country, it is not at war and is a candidate country to join the European Union. There is no clear basis for the UK to routinely accept thousands of asylum applications from Albanian citizens, the Committee finds. 

However up to June 2022, 51% of asylum claims from Albania were initially accepted, a rate far higher than many comparable European nations. Nine countries, including Germany, accepted no asylum claims from Albania. The Home Office must explain why the UK’s acceptance rate was so high, particularly compared to other countries. It must also explain why the acceptance rate is substantially higher for women (88%) than for men (13%). 

Maintaining positive relations with the Albanian Government should also be a key priority to ensure that the UK can return irregular migrants and offenders from UK prisons. Politicians, commentators and others should be careful to show restraint in their language and not single out Albania as the sole cause of the UK’s asylum pressures. 

The report focusses on Albania due to the unexpected spike in small boat crossings and asylum claims by Albanian nationals in 2022. However, the Committee finds that it should not be singled out and scapegoated in relation to the UK’s ongoing asylum backlog or overcrowding at immigration processing centres.

The Prime Minister has committed to clearing the backlog by the end of the year and the Home Office needs to set out how it plans to achieve this. The Government should also provide quarterly progress reports, including information on the number of pending claims in the backlog, staffing levels for asylum caseworkers numbers and the number of asylum decisions made per week. 

A key driver of migration from Albania to the UK is economic. People are prepared to make the journey, even in dangerous small boat crossings, for improved job prospects and higher incomes. The desire to come to the UK will continue until Albania become wealthier. 

Improved awareness of work visa programmes would support formalised migration to the economic benefit of the UK and Albania, providing an alternative to people smuggling gangs and reducing the burden on the asylum system. 

Only 325 work visas were granted to Albanian nationals in the first nine months of 2022, with evidence submitted to the inquiry arguing that a perceived difficulty in obtaining work in the UK through legal means could be driving people towards clandestine migration routes.

The Committee finds that more should be done to promote the availability of visas that would fill worker shortages in the UK economy and enable some transfer of wealth back to Albania. This would include short-term or seasonal work in sectors such as construction or agriculture. 

Home Affairs Committee Chair, Dame Diana Johnson MP, said: “Such a substantial sudden increase in asylum claims from a seemingly peaceful country understandably raised concerns.

“While it is important that questions are asked and lessons are learnt, it is clear that the immigration picture is not static and will continue to evolve. New challenges are likely to continue to emerge and it is important that the UK improves its overall approach to asylum, rather than focus on one country. 

“Changes in migration will inevitably place strain on any system, but the Government must do much more to ensure it can better handle these stresses. Most importantly it must improve the speed of decision making and clear the backlog as we set out in our Channel Crossings report in 2022. We expect the Home Office to set out how it plans to achieve this. 

“People will continue to be attracted to the UK from Albania while it continues to offer job opportunities and higher wages. The UK should look at how access to work visa schemes can be improved to fill our skills or staffing gaps, while offering Albanian nationals a route to higher income, benefiting both nations.” 

UK and Rwanda strengthen agreement to deal with global migration issues

The Home Secretary has hailed the strengthening of the partnership with Rwanda as both countries vow to step up efforts in dealing with global migration challenges.

Under the innovative Migration and Economic Development Partnership, people who make dangerous, unnecessary and illegal journeys to the UK, such as by small boat, will be relocated to Rwanda, where they will be supported to rebuild their lives.

Suella Braverman travelled to Kigali yesterday for official engagements with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Rwandan Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Dr Vincent Biruta, this weekend (March 18 and 19).

The Home Secretary and Dr Biruta reiterated their desire to deliver the partnership, amid a global migration crisis that has seen 100 million people displaced and people smugglers cashing in on human misery.

They outlined the global leaders’ commitment to working on bold and innovative migration policies to redress the balance between legal and uncontrolled migration. The government of Rwanda reiterated the country’s readiness to receive thousands of individuals, process their claims and house them before they are moved to longer-term accommodation, with necessary support services including health and education provisions.

The Home Secretary and Dr Biruta also signed an update to the memorandum of understanding, expanding the partnership further to all categories of people who pass through safe countries and make illegal and dangerous journeys to the UK.

This will have the added benefit of preparing the UK to deliver on the measures proposed in the Illegal Migration Bill, as it will mean that anyone who comes to the UK illegally – who cannot be returned to their home country – will be in scope to be relocated to Rwanda.

The new bill, which was introduced to Parliament last week, will see people who come to the UK illegally face detention and be returned to their home country, or a safe third country such as Rwanda.

The scheme is uncapped and the government of Rwanda have confirmed they are able to take thousands of people eligible for relocation.

In December, the UK government secured an important victory in the High Court on the legality of the partnership and will continue to defend the policy against ongoing legal challenge, while working with Rwanda to ensure flights can operate as soon as there are no legal barriers.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “We cannot continue to see people risking their lives crossing the Channel, which is why I am pleased to strengthen our agreement even further with the government of Rwanda so we can address the global migration crisis head on.

“The Migration and Economic Development Partnership is key to breaking the business model of people smugglers while ensuring those who genuinely need protection can be helped to rebuild their lives.

“Rwanda is a progressive, rapidly growing economy at the forefront of innovation – I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing first-hand the rich opportunities this country can provide to relocated people through our partnership.”

Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Biruta said: “If we are to successfully tackle the global migration crisis, we need innovative, urgent action.

“This Partnership addresses the opportunity gap at the heart of the migration crisis, by investing in Rwanda’s capability to continue offering migrants the opportunity to build new lives in a safe, secure place, through accommodation, education, and vocational training.

“For these reasons, we are pleased to once again renew our commitment to our ground-breaking Partnership with the UK, which shares our determination to solve this crisis.”

On the visit, the Home Secretary will spend time meeting refugees, who have been supported by the government of Rwanda to rebuild their lives. She will also see new housing developments, which will be used to relocate people.

She also visited new modern, long-term accommodation that will support those who are relocated to settle in Rwanda.

The Home Secretary also met with investment start-ups and entrepreneurs to discuss the range of business and employment opportunities available to people in Rwanda.

The partnership with Rwanda is just one strand of the work the government is doing to tackle illegal migration. Last week the Prime Minister agreed a package with France which will see a new detention centre established in France as well as the deployment of more French personnel and enhanced technology to patrol beaches.