The United Kingdom Immigration Minister, Robert Jenrick has said that removals of those with no right to be in the country have increased by more than 75% compared to last year.
Jenrick who made a statement at the House of Commons on Tuesday, said this govt has made it its top priority to stop the boats because these crossings are not only illegal, dangerous and unnecessary, but also deeply unfair.
He stated that govt have developed among most comprehensive, robust plans to tackle illegal migration in Europe, and over the course of the last year the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and him have been focusing on delivering it.
According to him, “We have already doubled the funding for the NCA’s organised immigration crime work, and at the meeting of the European Political Community earlier this month,
“The Prime Minister announced new, tailored initiatives with Belgium, Bulgaria and Serbia and these come in addition to the enhanced strategic partnerships we have already agreed this year with Italy and Turkey.
“Our two agreements with the French government elevated our cooperation to unprecedented levels. And as we are increasing disruption abroad, so we are restoring deterrence at home. We’re breaking link between arriving here illegally and a life in the UK.
“This is degrading the organised immigration crime groups, and in the last few weeks new physical barriers have been installed to make it considerably harder for these flimsy dinghies to launch.
“Since we struck our enhanced returns agreement with Albania in December we have returned more than 4,100 Albanian immigration offenders. And I saw for myself in Tirana last month, some of these individuals being returned home in as little as 48 hours”.
He recalled in August Government announced the biggest shake-up in a decade on the penalties imposed on rogue employers and landlords who encourage illegal migration by hiring or renting to illegal migrants.
“And as we do so, more unscrupulous businesses are getting the knock on the door. We have increased number of enforcement raids by more than two thirds, compared to this point last year.
“This surge has led to a doubling in the number of fines imposed on employers and tripling those issued to landlords.
But for those that are complicit in the business model of the people smugglers, severe financial penalties are not enough. That’s why we have dramatically increased the number of company directors who have been disqualified as a result of allowing illegal working.
“Our concerted efforts at home and abroad are making progress. For the first time since the phenomenon of small boat arrivals began 4 years ago, arrivals are down by over a fifth compared with the equivalent period in 2022 – and in recent months we’ve seen even further falls”.
Jenrick said in this year to June 2023, detections of irregular border crossings at the external borders of Europe increased by a third, and irregular arrivals to Italy across the Mediterranean have almost doubled.
“We remain confident of the legality of our Rwanda partnership and its ability to break the business model of the people smuggling gangs once and for all and we look forward to the judgment of the Supreme Court.
“As the success of our Albania returns agreement has shown, with swift removals driving a 90% reduction in the number of illegal migrants seeking to enter the UK: deterrence works”.
He said one of the most damaging manifestations of this problem has been the use of hotels to meet our statutory obligations to house those who arrive illegally who would otherwise be destitute.
“Ever since the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and I assumed office one year ago, we have been clear that this was completely unacceptable and must end at soon as practicable.
“These hotels should be assets for their local communities: serving businesses and tourists; hosting the life events that we treasure like weddings and birthdays – not housing illegal migrants at unsustainable cost to the taxpayer.
“We reformed the management of the existing estate. Through optimising double-rooms and increasing the number of people room sharing we have created thousands of additional beds, and in so doing avoided the need for a further 72 hotels.
“We have mobilised the large disused military sites that are more appropriate and worked closely with local authorities to ensure that they are less impactful on communities.
*We are in the process of re-embarking the barge at Portland: and as of 23 October, occupancy reached approximately 50 individuals. This will continue as planned in a phased manner in the days and weeks ahead.
“And nearly a year on, as a result of the progress we have made to stop the boats, I can inform the House that today the Home Office wrote to local authorities and MPs to inform them that we will now be exiting the first asylum hotels. Hotels in all 4 nations of the UK.
“The first 50 of these exits will begin in the coming days and will be complete by the end of January with more tranches to follow shortly. But we will not stop there. We will continue to deliver on our strategy to stop the boats and we will be able to exit more hotels”, he said.