Immigration Under Labour
Immigration since July
Deportations
• Since the election, this Government has overseen the biggest deportation flights on record
• More than 13,500 migrants with no right to be here have been deported since Labour won the election
• The Government are on track to deliver its pledge of having the highest rate of returns since 2018 in its first 6 months in office
• Arrests for illegal working are up almost a third on the same period last year
Smashing the gangs
• Since July, the Border Security Commander has been established to work with police, Border Force and Intelligence Agencies to break up these gangs
• Government have worked with Bulgarian partners to stop more than 100 small boats before they crossed the Channel
• Government is working with international policing partners to train sniffer dogs to detect dingy rubber to intercept boats
• £150m of funding for tackling the people smuggling gangs has been announced. This will deliver:
o 300 new staff for the Border Security Command
o 100 specialist investigators for the National Crime Agency to take on the gangs
o New technology to boost work with international partners investigating traffic networks
o Boost to the CPS to charge international gangs quicker
o Hundreds of extra case handlers to clear the backlog of asylum decisions
National Crime Agency activity (some examples)
• In December, German officers disrupted an organised crime group and arrested 13 people in Germany and France. As part of this, 21 boats and 24 engines were seized
• 18 members of an international organised crime group have been convicted in the biggest every detected drugs conspiracy. The gang smuggled several billion pounds worth of drugs into the UK
International work
• Iraq : The majority of criminal gangs operate out of Iraq. The Home Secretary has signed a landmark deal with Iraq to tackle illegal people smuggling gangs at the source. This includes law enforcement training for border security in Iraq
• Further support for Iraq to tackle serious organised crime gangs and capability at the border
• Germany : Joint action plan between the UK and Germany to break up the business of people smuggling gangs
• Germany to change the strengthen German law to make it a criminal offence to facilitate the smuggling of migrants to the UK. This is one of the most common routes via France to the UK
• G7 : The Home Secretary agreed the Anti-Smuggling Action Plan at the G7 in October to bolster border security. This includes:
o Sharing best practise including disrupting supply chains that facilitate people smuggling
o Working with social media platforms to remove adverts for illegal migration
o Strengthening powers to monitor and anticipate irregular migration
• Calais Group (France, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium): commitment to work together to dismantle the people smuggling gangs internationally