Some people have got the idea that UK is prevented by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) from deporting people and indeed from running an effective process for dealing with asylum applicants.
If you rock up in the UK – whether on a small boat or a big aeroplane – and it becomes clear you are attempting to enter the UK by deception you are imprisoned – and 387 such people were accordingly in prison on 31/03/23.
If you are reasonably clear that you’ve arrived wanting to stay – i.e. you are not being deceitful – but can’t show good reason or permission to do so, then you can be refused entry on the spot and must get the next ferry, train or plane out of the UK. These are referred to as “port returns”, and 20,378 people were “port returners” in 2022.
Or if there may be some more prolonged discussion, during which the person decides to leave voluntarily – rather than be detained – and 10,710 did that in the year ending 31/03/23.
Otherwise, if you apply for asylum and the officials feel this is plausible, then you are detained – as were 20,416 in the year ending 31/03/23 – for up to 6 months, though about 4% may be detained longer.
You leave detention:
(a) if while you are detained your asylum application is refused, when you are forcibly DEPORTED;
(b) if it is considered by officials that your asylum application is well founded and you are bailed out of detention either by an Immigration Judge or by the Secretary of State, pending a final adjudication;
(c) if information arises such that you should be removed to a prison pending charging or DEPORTATION.
Not all asylum applications succeed however and in 2022, 2,866 persons whose applications failed ended up being DEPORTED.
Quite separately, there is the case of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs). These are defined as persons who are not British citizens and who are, or were, convicted in the UK of any criminal offence, or convicted abroad for a serious criminal offence. In 2022, 3,079 FNOs were DEPORTED.
(Note, however, if a foreigner is convicted of ANY criminal offence in the UK, they appear to be liable to deportation.)
This posting is very closely based on what is currently published in the UK Gov websites.
It seems to me that:
(a) UK is not a “soft touch” regarding immigration;
(b) UK is not hampered by being subject to the ECHR;
(c) UK has a process which is reasonable in principle;
(d) but the UK’s process is working badly because insufficient resources have been allocated to eliminating the massive backlogs of pending asylum cases and enabling it work well.
The BIG ARGUMENT is about whether or not:
(a) refugees should have the right to make asylum applications to the UK and have those assessed and adjudicated by the UK government in the UK;
(b) the UK government can transport non-UK nationals to a third country against their will and where their asylum applications to reside in the UK will be made to, and adjudicated by officials, of that third country;
(c) the UK government can escape its obligations to refugees by contriving a system as under (a) and (b) above.
