Securing Our Borders and Tackling Illegal Immigration

Securing Our Borders and Tackling Illegal Immigration

● The UK has a proud history of supporting those in need of protection and our resettlement programmes have provided safe and legal routes for hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.

● Our response to the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Afghanistan, and the situation in Hong Kong have shown the world-leading role we play in protecting the most vulnerable.

● However we are facing a global migration crisis on an unprecedented scale; there are currently 80 million displaced people in the world, and people are dying attempting to cross the Channel in unseaworthy boats. Urgent change is needed to prevent evil people smugglers putting people’s lives at risk and to fix the broken global asylum system.

● The demands on the system, costs to the taxpayer and flagrant abuses are increasing every day. This cannot continue which is why we have brought forward the New Plan for Immigration to begin the biggest overhaul of our asylum system in decades.

● Encompassing the Nationality and Borders Act, and new agreements with partners globally (including the world-leading Migration Partnership with Rwanda), this Plan will secure our borders and tackle illegal migration.

The Nationality and Borders Act 2022

● The Nationality and Borders Act – the legislative framework for the New Plan for

Immigration – became law at the end of April.

● It will deter illegal entry into the UK, break the business model of peoplesmuggling networks, and speed up the removal of those with no right to be in the

UK.

● It will ensure that those who arrive illegally in the UK – who could have claimed asylum in another safe country – can be considered as ‘inadmissible’ to the UK’s asylum system.

● These key reforms will operate alongside a range of other new measures, to secure our borders and tackle illegal migration, including:

o tougher penalties for people smugglers with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment;

o increasing the maximum penalty for illegally entering the UK or overstaying a visa to four years’ imprisonment;

o new measures to end the merry-go-round of legal challenges which can be used to frustrate removal of those with no right to be in the UK;

o cracking down on adults pretending to be children by introducing scientific methods for age assessment; and

o new US-style Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme to slam the door on criminals before they even get here.

Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda

● The Home Secretary recently signed the Migration and Economic Development partnership with Rwanda as part of bold new plans to tackle illegal migration.

● This will see migrants who make dangerous and illegal journeys, such as by small boat or hidden in lorries, have their asylum claim processed in Rwanda.

● Those whose claims are accepted will then be supported to build a new and prosperous life in one of the fastest-growing economies, recognised globally for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants.

● Under this Partnership the UK is investing an initial £120 million into the economic development and growth of Rwanda.

Key Facts

● The asylum system is costing the taxpayer £1.5 billion per annum, the highest amount in over two decades.

● About 37,000 people are being housed in hotels – at a total cost to the taxpayer, when including those on resettlement schemes, of £4.7 million a day.

● The Home Office currently accommodates 85,000 asylum seekers, 55,000 in dispersed accommodation with 30,000 awaiting a move into dispersed accommodation.

● Fewer than half of local authorities currently participate in the asylum dispersal system, limiting the amount of suitable accommodation available.

● Since 2015 we have offered a place to over 185,000 men, women and children seeking refuge – more than any other similar resettlement schemes in Europe.