This week saw the Prime Minister announce new measures to tackle illegal immigration and the rise in channel crossings. There is no silver bullet or overnight fix to this complex issue; however, the Prime Minister made clear that we will take a tough but fair approach to tackle illegal migration and stop these dangerous boat crossings.
With over 40,000 people illegally crossing the Channel this year, significant pressure is being placed on our schools, hospitals and housing. Many of those making these journeys are travelling through, or from, safe countries. As such, we must get a handle on this situation, which is why the Government has announced five new steps that will make a significant difference:
1) This year, 1/3 of those arriving by small boat were from Albania – a safe, European country. We are introducing new guidance for caseworkers making it clear that Albania is a safe country – alongside creating a new dedicated unit of 400 specialised caseworkers. There will be weekly flights to Albania until all Albanians in our backlog have been removed, with new arrivals being swiftly returned.
2) A new Small Boats Operational Command will also be created, with an additional 730 dedicated staff and military support for specialist planning and operational advice. This unit will coordinate intelligence, interception, processing and enforcement - reducing the fragmentation in our policing of the Channel. Intercepting every boat will mean no-one arrives on a beach undetected.
3) We will also strengthen enforcement measures - increasing our ability to disrupt the activities of gangs facilitating crossings. We will add more than 200 new staff and double the funding given to the National Crime Agency to tackle organised gangs. In addition, we will set up a taskforce to drive cross-government action on illegal working and restart data sharing with banks to stop illegal migrants being able to open bank accounts.
4) In addition, the use of hotel accommodation for asylum seekers is unfair and unsustainable, costing £5.6 million every day. We have therefore located sites to house 10,000 people at half the cost of hotels, saving the taxpayer around £1 billion, and we are looking at a range of alternative sites such as disused holiday parks and former student halls.
5) Finally, we will clear the initial asylum backlog by the end of 2023, processing claims in days or weeks, not months or years. We have already doubled asylum decision-makers and we will double the number of caseworkers again to 2500, while radically simplifying the casework process – with shorter guidance, fewer interviews, less paperwork and specialist caseworkers by nationality.
Whilst these changes will help to address some of the challenges in our asylum system, we must go further. Early next year, the Government will introduce new legislation, ensuring that, if a person comes to the UK illegally, they will not be allowed to remain. Instead, they will be detained and returned to their home country or to a safe third country where their asylum claim will be considered. They will no longer be able to frustrate attempts at their removal with late or spurious claims and, once removed, they will have no right to re-entry, settlement or citizenship.
As the Prime Minister said in his statement, this is a fair way to address this global challenge. Tackling this problem will not be easy, but by taking these tough but fair steps, we will tackle illegal migration and stop these small boat crossings.
