UK Promises to Increase Repatriations of Migrants to 11 Countries
14,000 deportations in next 6 months
Starmer has promised that the United Kingdom will tackle human trafficking gangs.
London - 29 August 2024 The British government has promised to significantly increase repatriations of rejected asylum seekers and illegal residents and to sign agreements with local entities to support reintegration.
The Home Office (UK’s interior ministry) last week published a contract, disclosed on Thursday by the Financial Times, aimed at finding "service providers" to support the "reintegration" in their country of origin of people repatriated because they do not have the right to reside in the United Kingdom.
The government of Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to allocate a total of 15 million pounds ($19.7 million) to this system, spread over three years.
Eleven countries are concerned by these plans: Albania, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Nigeria, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Vietnam.
Eleven countries are concerned by these plans: Albania, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Nigeria, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Vietnam.
The service providers must provide them with food aid, help them find their relatives and find work, says the contract.
British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced last week that the government was aiming to reach the highest level of expulsions since 2018 in the next six months. This would be, according to the Times, almost 14,000 expulsions.
Approximately 300 officers were assigned to "examine thousands of files of rejected asylum seekers and returns, including forced and voluntary returns," according to the ministry.
300 officers were assigned to "examine thousands of files of rejected asylum seekers and returns, including forced and voluntary returns.”
Reducing the levels of immigration, both legal and illegal, was one of the priorities of the previous Conservative government, which was in power until July. The Labour government that succeeded it shares this objective, although it claims a more "humane" policy to achieve it.
Since taking office, Starmer has abandoned the controversial project to expel illegally arrived migrants to Rwanda (an initiative of the Conservative Party) and promised that the United Kingdom will tackle the activity of "human trafficking gangs."
Illegal crossings across the English Channel from France to the UK have hit a record since the start of the year, with 20,434 reported, according to an AFP tally based on figures from British authorities.