Ministers promise ‘major increase’ in return of illegal migrants

The Home Office has unveiled plans to tackle illegal immigration, including the deployment of 100 new intelligence officers to tackle people-smuggling rings.

Ministers are also promising a “major increase” in the number of flights taking out failed asylum seekers and others living illegally in the UK.

As part of the plan, the government says it will reopen immigration detention centres in Hampshire and Oxfordshire, adding 290 beds.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she wanted to introduce a “better-controlled” system to replace “the chaos that has plagued the system for far too long”.

The Conservatives said Labour was “not serious about tackling people smugglers or stopping boats”.

Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly welcomed the extra funding for the National Crime Agency and increased detention capacity, but said the government’s plan was “not ambitious enough”.

“When you combine that with their attempts to remove our deterrent, grant an effective amnesty to thousands of illegal migrants and the fact that they have not hired a head of their phantom border command, this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Steve Smith, head of refugee charity Care4Calais, said: “The only way to stop the border crossings and save lives is to create safe routes for people to claim asylum in the UK. That is what the new government must focus on.”

Enver Solomon, director of the Refugee Council, said that instead of expanding detention programs, the government should support asylum seekers in the community to return voluntarily.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the treatment of people in detention centres is “very poor”.

“If you treat people with respect and you help and support them to return, many more people will return,” he said.

In recent years there has been growing concern about the number of migrants and asylum seekers coming to the UK illegally, particularly via small boats across the Channel.

More than 19,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats this year, up 10% on last year but down from a peak of more than 21,000 in the same period in 2022.

The previous conservative government tried to reduce the numbers through the Rwanda plan, which would have deported migrants to the East African country.

When the Labour government was elected in July, it immediately scrapped the plan, calling it a “gimmick”.

Instead, they wanted to focus on stopping criminal gangs from driving people across the border and speeding up the process of returning people who have no legal right to stay in the UK.

The government has now announced that 100 new specialist intelligence officers and detectives will be deployed to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to “disrupt and destroy criminal smuggling gangs and prevent dangerous boat crossings”.

The agents will operate across the UK and Europe, with some going undercover and others focusing on the supply of inflatable boats and equipment.

The NCA currently has approximately 70 investigations into people smuggling and trafficking rings.

The government also says it will deploy staff to return rejected asylum seekers and tighten sanctions against employers who hire workers illegally.

Other measures announced by the government include increasing the capacity of detention centres by reopening the Campsfield and Haslar sites in Oxfordshire and Hampshire.

Haslar, near Portsmouth, was closed in 2015 after a report described it as “costly and harmful to prisoners”.

With these measures, the government hopes to achieve the highest number of deportations since 2018 within six months.

The number of people removed from the UK has fallen from a peak in 2013 of just over 46,000 to around 14,000 in 2022. It fell sharply to 8,300 in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, but has risen slightly in recent years.

Home Minister Seema Malhotra said nine return flights had taken off in the past six weeks, including one with over 200 people on board.

In early July, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said announced She would recruit someone to lead a British border security command to bring together the work of the intelligence services, police, immigration and border control.

The government said the appointment would take place within weeks, but the new commander has not yet been announced.

As part of other measures to reduce illegal migration, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised £84 million for projects in Africa and the Middle East to stop illegal migration “at source”.

The government has said funding for education, employment and humanitarian support would help address the factors driving people to leave their homes.