UK to fast-track returns of illegal migrants to safe countries like India

LONDON: The asylum applications of migrants entering the UK illegally from countries on its designated safe states list, including India, will be fast-tracked to deport them back speedily under new Labour government proposals.

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said she has begun the work to move staff from the previous Conservative-led government’s now-abolished Rwanda scheme to a new Returns and Enforcement programme. In place of the policy of trying to fly out illegal migrants to the African country, the Home Office plans to increase the returns to the countries of origin, starting with an increase in raids on businesses employing illegal workers.

“We are drawing up new plans for fast-track decisions and returns for safe countries,” Cooper wrote in ‘The Sun on Sunday’.

“Most people in this country want to see a properly controlled and managed asylum system, where Britain does its bit to help those fleeing conflict and persecution, but where those who have no right to be in the country are swiftly removed,” she said.

India was added to the UK’s “Safe States” list last November, which would speed up the process of returning Indians who travel from the country illegally, as Home Office figures show asylum seekers from India have a very low acceptance rate.

The number of Indians crossing the English Channel illegally via small boats into the UK surged briefly between September 2022 and March 2023 before falling to a “negligible proportion”, according to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford. Vietnam and Albania are among the other countries on the safe list which will be targeted for speedier returns.

“I was shocked to discover the Conservatives had 1,000 civil servants working on the Rwanda Partnership. Not any more. We’ve moved staff instead into a new Returns and Enforcement programme to increase returns of those with no right to be here and to make sure rules are respected and enforced, starting with an increase in illegal working raids,” said Cooper.

“We’ve directed Immigration Enforcement to intensify their operations over the summer, with a focus on employers who are fuelling the trade of criminal gangs by exploiting and facilitating illegal working here in the UK – including in car washes and in the beauty sector,” she said.

It comes as the newly appointed minister announced the creation of a new Border Security Command in the days after Labour won a landslide victory in the July 4 general election. Under the plans, a core team in the Home Office is establishing the remit, governance and strategic direction of the new command. Early legislation is being prepared to introduce new counter-terror style powers and stronger measures to tackle organised immigration crime.

“The Border Security Command will be a major step change in UK enforcement efforts to tackle organised immigration crime, drawing on substantial resources to work across Europe and beyond to disrupt trafficking networks and to coordinate with prosecutors in Europe to deliver justice,” said Cooper.