UK announces tougher approach to illegal immigration — RT World News

London is to introduce a raft of new measures to tackle illegal immigration into the UK and strengthen the country’s border security, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced.

According to a statement on Wednesday, the government aims to achieve the following goals over the next six months: “highest percentage of deportations of people without rights” who have been in the country since 2018, including asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected.

“We are taking strong and clear steps to improve our border security and ensure the rules are followed and enforced,” said Cooper.

The new measures include the immediate recruitment of up to 100 new specialist intelligence and investigation officers into the National Crime Agency (NCA) to “Disrupt and destroy criminal smuggling gangs and prevent dangerous boat crossings.”

The government also announced plans to expand detention capacity with 290 new beds at the Campsfield and Haslar deportation centres.

Additionally, a new intelligence-driven illegal labor program will be rolled out to target, investigate and disrupt illicit activity. “unscrupulous employers who illegally hire people who have no right to work here.”

“A range of sanctions, including fines, closure orders and possible prosecution, will be imposed on those who employ illegal workers,” the statement reads. “Those caught working illegally and eligible for deportation will be detained, pending their swift deportation.”

According to The Independent, critics have branded the government’s plans unrealistic. “a waste of tax money,” claiming that they are missing details and unable to recognize “the dignity and humanity of migrants,” especially in the wake of the recent riots that targeted hotels housing asylum seekers across the country.

The new plan means more than 14,000 deportations by the end of the year, the newspaper reported on Wednesday. However, the number is far lower than the 45,000 who returned in 2010 under the former Labour government and fewer than the 19,000 migrants who have arrived in Britain so far this year by crossing the Channel in small boats, The Independent also noted.

Official statistics show that around 1.2 million people moved to the UK last year, including legal and illegal immigration, 85% of whom came from outside the EU.