Campaign Reply: Tackling Illegal Immigration

The Prime Minister has been clear since he took office that he will prioritise the issue of illegal immigration. In December 2022, the Government announced five new steps to further curb the issue of illegal immigration. This included a new agreement with Albania so the vast majority of Albanian claimants can be removed, with weekly flights until all Albanians in the backlog are sent home.

The Government is also providing France with £500 million in funding over the next three years, to prevent people crossing the Channel illegally. This is funding an extra 500 officers who will patrol French beaches and a new detention centre in northern France. A new command centre has also been established bringing UK and French enforcement teams together in once place for the first time. These measures are being underpinned by more drones and other surveillance technologies which will help to ramp up the interception rate.

Since these measures were introduced last year, small boat arrivals to the UK are already down by 20 per cent. Albanian arrivals have reduced by 90 per cent and their asylum grant rate including withdrawals is now two per cent. The Government has removed nearly 1,800 Albanian nationals who did not have the right to be in the UK back to Albania. Further, the number of illegal working raids has increased by more than 50 per cent, and arrests have more than doubled. Further, the legacy asylum backlog is down by almost a fifth.

The new Illegal Immigration Act will build on this progress, as it means that someone who enters this country illegally will be swiftly detained and removed back to their home country if it is safe, or to a safe third country. This will help the break the business model of people-smuggling networks, and ultimately save lives.