‘Government not gangs’ should decide who enters UK as 19,000 migrants removed

The Government has released footage of migrants being escorted on to planes and deported as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper warned it should be “governments and not gangs” deciding who gets to enter the country.

The Home Office has said it shared photos and video of removing migrants for the first time to give a better understanding of the process, as a minister defended the decision to publish footage of immigration raids on illegal workers earlier on Monday.

Some 18,987 people, including foreign criminals and those not eligible for asylum, have been returned to countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and South America since Labour took power in July.

According to the Home Office, 5,074 were forced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK, up 24% between July 5 last year and January 31, compared with 4,089 forced returns in the previous 12-month period.

Photos show detention custody officers escorting each individual as they walk up steps to board a charter flight.

It is understood the majority of people will board the plane unaided, but restraint techniques and equipment such as rigid bar handcuffs, waist restraint belts and leg restraint belts can be used as a last resort.

Asked on Monday whether there will be a “hostile environment” under this Government for people who are here illegally, Ms Cooper said: “The rules need to be respected and enforced.

“The asylum and immigration systems are important, but for too long those rules just simply haven’t been properly enforced.

“That’s why we’re boosting both returns and enforcement.

“Nineteen thousand people who don’t have any right to be in the UK returned since the general election, and also a big increase in the illegal working raids and arrests (…) make sure we’re also going after the employers who are exploiting migrant workers.”

A total of 39 charter flights have been used since July, four more than in the same previous 12-month period.

Some 2,925 were foreign national offenders, a hike of 21% compared with the prior 12-month term, including both voluntary and forced returns.

Asked whether the Government was going to pursue the idea of safe routes of entry to the UK, the Home Secretary added: “The UK has always done its bit alongside other countries to help those fleeing persecution.

“But we have to tackle the criminal gangs who are organising dangerous boats who are putting lives at risk, and who are undermining border security. Governments and not gangs should be deciding who enters the country.”

The publications come as the Government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill returned for debate in the House of Commons in its second reading on Monday.

It aims to introduce a raft of new offences and counter-terror-style powers to crack down on people smugglers bringing migrants across the English Channel.

The measures are expected to come into force as soon as possible once the legislation is approved by MPs and Lords, believed to be this year.

Reacting to the deportation footage, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: “This Labour government are plumbing new depths with their plan to broadcast footage of people being detained and deported.

“Those involved should be searching their consciences to ask if such breathtaking cruelty is really worth it all for the sake of aping the rhetoric of Reform.

“The bitter irony is that following Reform to the right on migration won’t win Labour any support – it will only lend legitimacy to Reform’s extreme views.”

Ms Cooper denied suggestions that the Labour government’s decision to publish footage of raids was in response to Reform UK’s poll ratings, instead saying it had been part of the party’s election manifesto.

The raids and arrests were defended by Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle, who insisted they was in line with Sir Keir Starmer’s previous pledge to create an immigration system “based on compassion and dignity”.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t believe for one minute that enforcing the law and ensuring that people who break the law face the consequences of doing that, up to and including deportation, arrest, is not compassionate.

“We have to have a system where the rules are respected and enforced.”

Media reports have suggested some Labour MPs on the left of the party are uncomfortable with publishing footage from immigration raids and deportations.

Meanwhile, other Labour parliamentarians who represent areas under threat from Reform UK have formed a pressure group urging ministers to go further and faster in its efforts to crack down on immigration.