UK Report: Four in Five Detained Immigrants Released, Not Deported

Facts

• According to an annual report from the UK's Independent Monitoring Board, almost 80% of migrants in detention centers last year were released but not deported. The 22% deportation last year was almost half the rate between 2015 and 2019, which was 44% during that time.¹
• The purpose of detention is to prepare individuals for deportation, and the Home Office is only tasked to detain migrants if there is a realistic chance of timely deportation —many, however, are released due to successful legal challenges or health assessments. The cost of immigrant detention is £112.85 (about US$142) per person per night.²
• The government has also faced criticism for holding people too long, including one detained for three years and five others for 180 days. However, the government has pledged to increase detention capacity as it prepares to restart its deportation to Rwanda program.¹
• The Rwanda plan, in which the UK paid the East African country £140M ($177M) in 2022 and an additional £100M ($126M) in 2023 to accept deported migrants, was originally rejected by the UN last year, claiming Rwanda was not a safe third country to send migrants to. However, Rwanda rejected the UN's claim and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak argued the plan would save taxpayers "billions in the long run."³
• While the European Council on Human Rights claims the Rwanda plan violates three other laws passed by Parliament in the last three decades, Sunak's government is "anticipated" to send another £50M ($63M) to Rwanda for the program in 2024.³

Sources: ¹Guardian, ²EasternEye, and ³BBC News.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Guardian. The Sunak government should be given credit where credit is due regarding its attempt to tackle the backlog of asylum claims. However, as more and more asylum seekers go through the process to officially begin their new lives in Britain, they're quickly pushed out of temporary housing and into the nation's housing crisis with nowhere to go. Sunak's administration needs to allow more time for private charities to find sufficient accommodations for these new arrivals — otherwise, they'll become another demographic data point on the country's homelessness map.
• Right narrative, as provided by The Telegraph. Rishi Sunak's obsession with combatting illegal immigration is not only failing but hiding the parallel issue of overwhelming legal immigration. As Britons struggle to find homes and healthcare for themselves and their children, the government has prioritized the legal immigration of foreigners like foreign students who can afford to pay the full price of university tuition. Tory voters have long demanded a slow-down to both illegal and legal immigration, but Sunak seems to care more about immigration status than the cascading effects of his policies. He needs to better align conservative values on this issue.