Two record-breaking deportation flights have taken off since the election, removing hundreds of individuals who entered the UK illegally, the Sunday Mirror reports.
It comes as Labour leader Keir Starmer celebrates a major victory in his campaign against human smuggling networks, marked by the arrest of the so-called “Engine King.” The Turkish man, detained in Amsterdam on Wednesday, is believed to have supplied hundreds of boat motors to smuggling operations. He has reportedly been extradited to Belgium to face charges.
The arrest is seen as a significant blow to smuggling gangs and their supply chains and is being hailed as a “proof of concept” for targeting key figures behind the trade across Europe.
Labour can now claim credit for organising the three largest deportation flights in UK history, which have collectively removed 629 people. More flights are reportedly planned before the year’s end, including to countries the UK has not previously chartered flights to.
Since July 5, over 25 bespoke deportation flights have returned individuals to countries such as Albania, Poland, Romania, and Vietnam. These include the first-ever charter flight to Timor-Leste and the largest deportation flight to Nigeria and Ghana.
A Labour source described Britain’s asylum and immigration system as an “utter disaster” inherited from the previous government. “We were told it was going to be the worst year ever for small boat arrivals, and that billions would be needed to handle the asylum backlog, including opening over 100 new hotels,” they said. “Meanwhile, £700 million was wasted on a Rwanda scheme that didn’t prevent a single boat or deport a single asylum seeker.”
In July, the Home Office predicted that total Channel crossings could surpass 50,000 in 2024. Asylum decisions had plummeted, with fewer than 100 decisions made daily in May and June, despite record arrivals.
In a desperate attempt to make the Rwanda deportation scheme operational, the previous government offered migrants packages worth £150,000 to voluntarily relocate to Kigali. The incentives included permanent housing, five years of free food, private healthcare, free education up to degree level, vocational training, career support, £3,000 in spending money, and a new mobile phone.
In total, three failed asylum seekers and one immigration offender volunteered under the scheme.
Some 9,400 people with no legal right to be in the UK have been returned to their home countries since Labour took office, with nearly 2,600 forced deportations – an increase of 19% compared to 2023.
There has also been a 14% increase in foreign national offenders being returned since Labour took office, compared to last year.
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