Australian National Review – Immigration detention centres to reopen as Border Force prepares

More than 200 asylum seekers arrived by boat on Monday, bringing the total number of illegal arrivals in 2024 to 19,294, more than in the same period last year.

The government will continue with plans from the previous administration to reopen two immigration detention centres, with the Home Secretary announcing that Border Security Command is “preparing” to tackle illegal immigration.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced on Wednesday that new personnel are being urgently recruited for the command, with additional staff already deployed across Europe. The Home Office is in the process of recruiting a Border Security Commander to lead the unit.

Border Security Command is designed to work with multiple agencies and partners in the EU. Cooper said it would “work with European enforcement agencies to find every route to defeat the criminal smuggling gangs who organise dangerous boat crossings that undermine our border security and put lives at risk.”

In addition, the Home Office said around 100 new specialists would be working on around 70 investigations into human trafficking networks at the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Rob Jones, Director General of the NCA, said tackling organised illegal immigration is a top priority for the agency, “and we are devoting more effort and resources to it than ever before.”

“We are committed to doing everything we can to disrupt and dismantle these networks, whether they operate in the UK or abroad,” Jones said.

Increasing returns

The government has also pledged to provide an additional 290 immigration deportation beds at two immigration deportation centres at Campsfield House in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire.

These centres were closed in 2019 and 2015 respectively, but the previous Conservative government announced in 2023 that it would redevelop these disposal units.

The decision to continue with the previous government’s plans for detention centres is part of the new government’s efforts to increase the return rates of rejected asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.

The Home Secretary said: “By increasing enforcement capacity and reporting, we will create a system that is better policed and managed, rather than the chaos that has plagued the system for far too long.”

According to the Home Office, ministers are aiming to achieve “the highest rate of deportations of people who should not be here, including failed asylum seekers” over the next six months since 2018, when Theresa May was prime minister.

However, immigration experts doubt whether this would be a major achievement.

Peter Walsh, a senior researcher at the Migration Observatory, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If we look at forced removals, there were 6,000 last year and 9,000 in 2018. So this would require 3,000 more, a 50 per cent increase, which seems achievable.

“The other point I want to emphasize is that the bar for 2018 is not exactly high, apart from the pandemic which saw the lowest number of forced evictions in 20 years.”

Asylum and immigration charities have also criticised the government’s plans. James Wilson, director of Detention Action, said: “The government’s proposal to detain even more people in the UK is a disappointing step towards a fairer and more humane immigration system.”

Illegal arrivals over 19,000

On Monday, 203 illegal immigrants arrived in the UK by boat, bringing the total number of Channel crossings this year to 19,294.

That is 10 percent more than at the same time in 2023, when 17,620 asylum seekers arrived.

The largest number of crossings in a single day since Labour won the July 4 general election took place on August 11, when 703 illegal immigrants crossed the Channel in 11 boats, with an average of 64 people per vessel.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper leaves 10 Downing Street in London, on July 6, 2024. (Tejas Sandhu/PA Wire) — Home Secretary Yvette Cooper leaves 10 Downing Street in London, on July 6, 2024. Tejas Sandhu/PA Wire

Speaking last weekend about the numbers of illegal immigrants still arriving on British shores, Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “This new Government must take urgent action to bring these ever-increasing numbers of border crossings under control.”

Cleverly continued: “When Labour abandoned our deterrent (the Rwanda plan) they sent a dangerous message to the people smugglers that they were not prepared to take the tough measures needed to control our borders, and the smugglers are now reaping the rewards.”

Cumulative arrivals of people crossing the Channel in small boats. (PA Wire) — Cumulative arrivals of people crossing the Channel in small boats. PA wire

The previous Conservative government planned to send asylum seekers who arrived in the UK illegally to Rwanda, a move that former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Cleverly said would act as a deterrent.

PA Media contributed to this report.