Illegal Migrant Returns Agreements

Question

14:56:00

Tabled by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress they have made towards securing additional illegal migrant returns agreements with foreign governments.

On behalf of the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe of Epsom, and with his permission, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in his name on the Order Paper.

The UK utilises a range of returns agreements and operational returns arrangements to facilitate the readmission to home countries of those with no right to remain here. We continue to engage with foreign Governments to maintain, develop and improve operational return processes and co-operation.

I am grateful to the Minister for that Answer. The Government recently signed a returns agreement with Iraq. Can he explain how this will work, given that the central Government of Iraq control part of the country and the Kurdish authorities another? In addition, can he give his assessment of the likely impact on this agreement of the current acceleration of hostilities in Syria?

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question. As he knows, my right honourable friend the Home Secretary visited Iraq last week and has engaged with the Government of Iraq to look at co-operation on a number of fronts, to try to stop small boats, to facilitate returns and to look at other issues to do with criminality, terrorism and co-operation between the two authorities on law enforcement matters. Further details of the engagement and discussion will be announced in due course. I hope the noble Lord recognises that that is another step to go with the 9,400 returns we have made and the 1,520 foreign national offenders we have deported, both since 5 July.

My Lords, of course illegal immigration has to be dealt with but, frankly, I am more concerned about the impact of the 2.5 million people the last Government allowed in legally in the last two years. What assessment have the Government made of the impact of that on already creaking public services such as schools and hospitals? Where are all these people going to live, given that we are failing to build enough housing for people already in the country, and how on earth is it possible to integrate such a huge number of people arriving in such a short period of time?

My noble friend— I still call him that from days gone by—will be aware that only last week the Prime Minister announced a potential White Paper on net migration. Early in the new year and beyond, we will look at the issue of net migration. This Question focuses on return agreements. We have a significant number of return agreements in place with China, Moldova, Iraq and a whole range of other countries. I am very happy to supply him with the long list; it would take far too long if I read it all out today.

My Lords, I declare my interest in that I am supported by RAMP. Voluntary removals, as opposed to enforced removals, have made up the majority of all removals every year since 2007. Voluntary removal is cheaper and more humane and does not require immigration detention. What are the Government’s plans to develop a more effective voluntary returns programme that provides independent advice and support to individuals, so that this route can be used to greater extent?

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question. It is really important that we have voluntary returns where people have no right of abode in the United Kingdom. Of the 9,400 returns since we have had custody of this post on 5 July 2024, 2,590 were enforced returns but the other 7,000-ish were voluntary returns. We need to encourage that, because if people have been through a range of mechanisms to ensure they have no right of abode in the United Kingdom, then, quite frankly, they have no right of abode.

My Lords, on 26 November I tabled a Written Question to the Minister asking why the Government do not routinely collect data on foreign national offenders who have been in prison for than more 12 months at the end of their sentence, whether they are deported and, if not, why not. Unfortunately, he did not provide me with an adequate Written Answer. Is he able to say now whether the Government intend to collect that data and, if not, why not?

The noble Lord will be aware that the Government intend to look at a whole range of data. One of the reasons we have deported more than 2,500 people forcibly, including 1,500-plus people who are foreign national offenders, is that we recognise that when people have completed their sentence, there is the right to remove them if the Government wish to remove them. We get notification when foreign national offenders complete their sentences, and we will certainly examine that issue. Perhaps the noble Lord could ask his own Front Bench why there were 100,000 such foreign offences last year alone.

Is the Minister aware that in the past few weeks the police in the Republic of Ireland have been stopping buses coming over from Northern Ireland, checking identity and immigration status and sending people back to Northern Ireland? Has he had any discussions with the Irish Government on this, and is it affecting in any way the common travel area?

I take what the noble Baroness has said at face value. I have not had any exposure to that issue—it has not come across my desk—but I will take it away and reflect on it. I assure her that there is co-operation between the Irish authorities and the United Kingdom authorities—and, indeed, the Northern Ireland Assembly—on all matters relating to the common travel agreement area.

My Lords, I welcome the action that the Government are taking to get on top of the asylum backlog and to process claims formerly deemed as inadmissible. I appreciate, therefore, that more individuals may be found ineligible for asylum and may need to return. Therefore, are the Government going to review the current safeguarding policies in place for enforced return and, if so, how?

I am grateful to the right reverend Prelate for her question and comments. We will certainly keep that under review. It is important that people have both safeguarding properly implemented and any removal, either forced or voluntary—going back to a question raised earlier—done in as humane a way as possible. I will certainly reflect on the points she has made and give her further clarification in writing.

My Lords, we welcome that 9,400 have been returned, and I congratulate the Minister on that. How many of those 9,400 came here on small boats, and which countries were they returned to?

I am very pleased that the noble Lord welcomes that, because it is in fact a 19% increase on when his party was in office before 5 July. The 1,500 foreign national offenders are a 14% increase over the year in which his party was last in office. I cannot get into it today because it would take too long to look at where the 9,400 are from and how many came from where, how and when, but let me reassure him. We are about processing asylum, stopping the small boats and putting in security. [Interruption.] The noble Lord is heckling, saying, “How many in small boats?”. Let us look at the next 12 months and see how many have come in small boats then. It will be far fewer than when his Government were in office.

My Lords, on the over 9,000 people who have been deported—a cross-section of people, as the Minister mentioned—where can we find the detailed information on where they have been deported to? It appears to be quite difficult to find clarification. My brief second point is on Iraq, which the Minister mentioned. Can he confirm to this House whether the death penalty is still in place in Iraq?

I do not know whether it is fashionable to say this, but I do not know the answer to the question about the death penalty in Iraq. I will certainly find out and write to the noble Baroness accordingly. Where they have been deported to is a range of countries, which again is too long to list. The noble Baroness will be aware that there are lots of countries where those transfers are taking place, including Zimbabwe, Iraq, Senegal, Gambia and Algeria. If she wishes to know about the 9,400, that is like asking whether one can name the crew of a particular ship. I cannot, but I can find someone who can.

My Lords, I welcome the prospect of a returns agreement with Iraq, but some of those who come across from Iraq on boats may not be anxious to return, for one reason or another. They may, of course, get rid of their passports and conceal where they came from. Do the Government have any idea how to deal with that problem?

The Government are obviously continually trying to look at that very issue, and that is a fact of life. Since 5 July, four flights have taken place and they are the four biggest return flights in the United Kingdom’s history, with 852 people leaving on them. It is an objective of this Government to remove those people who are identified as not having the right to live in the United Kingdom. We have started doing that with nearly 1,000 people—852 on four flights. We will continue to do that with the 9,400 we have mentioned. That number will only rise and will continue to do so.