Taxpayers will no longer have to pay to accommodate
these offenders, and those transferred will be barred
from returning to Britain, giving further peace of mind
to victims.
UK and Albanian justice Ministers, and
Etilda Gjonaj, formally approved the Prisoner Transfer
Agreement in London this morning. The agreement works
both ways and includes provisions for British criminals
in Albanian jails to be returned to the UK.
Albanian nationals currently represent the highest
percentage of foreign nationals in custody with more
than 1,500 in prison in England and Wales – around 10%
of overseas criminals in jail. The UK does not collect
statistics on British prisoners in overseas jails, but
the number imprisoned in Albania is thought to be
extremely low.
Minister for Immigration Compliance and Justice,
, said:
We are committed to removing foreign criminals who
have abused our hospitality and inflicted misery on
our communities.
Someone who commits a serious crime in the UK should
be barred from returning so that the taxpayer no
longer has to pay for them and victims can be
confident justice has been done.
Since January 2019, the Government has removed 7,985
foreign national offenders from our prisons,
immigration removal centres and the community.
The deal builds on an earlier agreement and means that
offenders must spend at least the same amount of time
in custody as they were sentenced to by a judge in the
UK.
It also clarifies that prisoners can be transferred
without their consent and outlines the information that
receiving states need in an application – speeding up
the process.
Notes to editors:
- The Agreement must be ratified by each state. The
UK does not require new legislation and the Government
hopes transfers will begin from the autumn.
- The cost of removing Foreign National offenders
falls to the transferring state, while the remaining
period of detention falls to the receiving state.
- Offenders are barred from returning to the UK
through Home Office deportation orders.
