Home Office deports just 21 migrants under new post-Brexit policy

Home Office has deported just 21 out of 17,000 asylum seekers considered for removal under new post-Brexit policy – as number of asylum applications hits TWENTY YEAR high of 63,000

• Post-Brexit rules allow officials to send asylum seekers to a ‘safe third country’ 
• Yet while 17,222 claims were considered, just 21 people have ever been removed
• Today it also emerged the UK had received a total of 63,089 asylum applications 

The Home Office has deported just 21 out of 17,000 asylum seekers considered for removal under a flagship post-Brexit policy, the latest figures revealed today. 

New ‘inadmissibility’ rules allow officials to send asylum seekers to a ‘safe third country’ they have travelled through on their way to the UK. This can also include countries that have agreed to receive asylum seekers from Britain, such as Rwanda. 

Yet while 17,222 asylum claimants have had their cases considered on inadmissibility grounds since the rules came into effect on January 1, 2020, just 21 have ever actually been removed. 

They went to countries including Ireland, Germany, Italy and Spain. 

Today it also emerged the UK had received 63,089 asylum applications in the year ending June 2022 – 77 per cent more than in 2019 and the highest number since 2003. 

A group of six migrants are brought onto the beach at Dungeness today by the RNLI 

Today it also emerged the UK had received 63,089 asylum applications in the year ending June 2022 – 77 per cent more than in 2019 and the highest number since 2003

The dramatic rise has been linked to a sharp increase in the number of small boat crossings. Iranians have been the top nationality, followed by Albanians, Iraqis, Afghanis, Syrians and Sudanese. 

Over the same period, Germany received the highest number of asylum applicants (164,925) in the EU, followed by France (112,860). Compared to the EU, the UK received the fourth highest number of applicants, falling to 18th on a per capita basis. 

The backlog of Home Office decision is at a record high, with more than 166,000 cases still ongoing. 

More than three quarters of applications were given the go ahead at the first stage in the year to June, and half of the refusals appealed were successfully overturned.  

Meanwhile, the government appears to be planning to attempt a new deportation flight to Rwanda, with some newly arrived migrants receiving letters their cases had been deemed ‘inadmissible’, the Guardian reports. 

The letters went on to say tell the asylum seekers the government intends to send them to Rwanda to have their claims processed there. They have 14 days to raise objections over their forced removal to the east African country.  

It comes as Home Office data revealed nearly 6,000 Albanians are thought to have crossed the Channel to the UK so far this year after numbers increased ‘substantially’ over the last few months.

Albanians were rarely seen on migrant boats arriving on the south coast before this year but officials now believe this is the dominant nationality in the crossings, with numbers growing rapidly.

Some 2,165 were recorded as arriving between January and June 2022, compared with just 23 detected in the same period the previous year, according to a Home Office report published on Thursday.

The rise has been linked to a sharp increase in the number of small boat crossings. Iranians have been the top nationality, followed by Albanians, Iraqis, Afghanis, Syrians and Sudanese

In year to March, a total of 3,231 people were forced to leave UK – less than the figure for 2019. This refers to migrants in general, including foreign criminals 

Officials say between 50 per cent 60 per cent arrivals are now thought to be from the south-eastern European country, many of which recently have been young men.

It comes as Home Secretary Priti Patel struck a deal with the Albanian government to step-up police activity and fast-track removals in a bid to tackle crossings.

More than 23,300 people have arrived in the UK after navigating busy shipping lanes from France in small boats such as dinghies so far in 2022, according to provisional government figures.

Officials fear crossings are becoming more dangerous – with the average number of people per boat now standing at 44 in August, compared to 28 in 2021 – and think it is remarkable there have not been any serious incidents, such as drownings, so far this year.

‘The number of Albanians arriving on small boats has increased substantially over the last quarter. Prior to this point, Albanians were not commonly detected on small boats’, the Home Office findings said.

The nationality is said to be seen as the biggest challenge by officials, after just under 60% of the record breaking number of 1,295 migrants who arrived in Kent on Monday were believed to be from Albania.

UK officials do not know definitively what is behind the surge but believe it could be prompted by organised crime and driven by families looking to reunite.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has agreed a deal with the Albanian government to step-up police activity and fast-track removals in a bid to tackle crossings

Lucy Moreton, from the ISU union which represents Border Force officers, said: ‘Members report the working hypothesis that the recent increases in Albanians is to replace those who have been arrested, imprisoned and/or deported as a result of increased police activity in the organised crime sphere.

‘This is a hypothesis only, but does make sense.’

Albanian officials are said to be embarrassed by the numbers involved in the crossings. A delegation is due to arrive next week to discuss how the two countries can tackle the rising numbers.

As part of the agreement between Ms Patel and Bledi Cuci, Albania’s minister for interior affairs, Albanian police are to be sent to ports to work alongside UK authorities, providing intelligence and observing migrants being processed. It is hoped the operation will begin within days of the delegation’s visit.

The pair have also pledged to speed up removals of Albanians with no right to be in the UK from next week.

Fewer than 1,000 Albanian offenders have been deported from the UK since a removals agreement was signed last year. But under the latest plans, Albanians will have their asylum applications fast-tracked and those with unsuccessful claims could be put on flights within weeks.

Migrants arrive into Dover harbour onboard a Border Force Vessel, after being rescued while attempting to cross the English Channel yesterday  

The Home Office is also targeting people in northern France and Belgium, and those who ‘meet certain criteria, such as being away from home’, with adverts in Albanian on Facebook and Instagram to try to deter people from making the crossing.

This comes after officials saw a rise in adverts pushing Channel crossings over the last month, including those offering discounts for children and disabled people. 

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable. People should always claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.

‘Our New Plan for Immigration is bringing in the biggest reforms in decades, allowing us to support those in genuine need while breaking the business model of vile people smugglers.

‘We are committed to removing those who have no right to be in the UK. In the past fifteen months, the Home Secretary has signed major returns agreements with Pakistan, Albania, India, Serbia and Nigeria and we continue to work with countries on new agreements.’

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