Issued by the Home Office

Nearly 19,000 failed asylum seekers, foreign criminals and other immigration offenders have been returned since the election to countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and South America following a major escalation in immigration enforcement by the Home Office.

By redeploying 1,000 staff to work on immigration enforcement and sending a clear signal that those coming here illegally will be returned swiftly – between 5 July 2024 and 31 January 2025, enforced returns are up 24%, removals of foreign national offenders up 21% and illegal working raids up by 38% compared to the same period 12 months prior.

These figures represent the highest rate of returns seen in the UK since 2018 and include the 4 biggest returns charter flights in the UK’s history, with a total of more than 850 people on board.

As part of this release, the Home Office has for the first time shared images of the inner working of the removals process to provide further understanding of this important work.

The government’s success in ramping up removals is a key part of our Plan for Change to deliver on working people’s priorities and finally restoring order to the asylum system. This new approach focusses on breaking the business model of smuggling gangs through tougher law enforcement powers than ever before, rapidly removing those who are here illegally and ending the false promise of jobs used by gangs to sell spaces on boats.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

"To rebuild public confidence in the immigration system, we need to show the rules are respected and enforced. That’s why, as part of the government’s Plan for Change, we have put significant additional resource into immigration enforcement and returns, so those who have no right to be here, particularly those who have committed crimes in our country, are removed as swiftly as possible.

"I want to pay tribute to all the Immigration Enforcement staff and other officials in the Home Office who strive tirelessly every day to make our returns system work firmly, fairly and swiftly."

Deportations and returns of foreign national offenders and failed asylum seekers continue to take place regularly, with final numbers to be confirmed later in the year, as part of the Home Office’s usual published statistics.

Ramping up returns is an important part of the government’s system-wide action to strengthen UK border security and restore order to the asylum and immigration system. Tackling illegal working is also vital to this approach and last month saw 828 premises raided by Immigration Enforcement, the highest total of raids recorded in the month of January for over half a decade.

During these enforcement operations Immigration Enforcement officers also play a crucial role in tackling human trafficking and modern slavery through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). This system allows the government to carry out its obligations to identify and support adult victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. Immigration Enforcement officers are trained to spot the signs of modern slavery and human trafficking when they carry out enforcement visits and refer victims to the NRM for support.

In the months ahead, the government will introduce new counter terror-style powers to identify, disrupt and smash people smuggling gangs, as part of new, robust legislation to protect UK border security, which has second reading in the House of Commons today.

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