Rishi Sunak's dismal record in tackling Channel crossings

Ahead of Rishi Sunak’s update on the progress made in the six months since he introduced the Illegal Migration Bill, Labour is highlighting the Prime Minister’s actual record on tackling the issue:

Overall:

Since Rishi Sunak made his December statement:

• 7,600 people have crossed the Channel this year alone:
  https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1159868/30_May_2023_Small_boats_-_time_series.ods
  
  
• The total asylum backlog has ballooned to over 172,500, up from 166,000 in December:
  (All applicants)https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1156820/asylum-applications-awaiting-decision-datasets-mar-2023.xlsx
  
  
• The Prime Minister is on track to miss his target to eliminate the pre-June 2022 backlog by December 2023, with less than 20% of cases cleared so far this year – while the post-June 2022 backlog has grown even faster:
  (IMB_02) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1160634/statistics-relating-to-the-illegal-migration-bill-data-tables-to-may-2023.ods
  
  
• Caseworker numbers have stalled, and fell between January and May:
  (IMB_06) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1160634/statistics-relating-to-the-illegal-migration-bill-data-tables-to-may-2023.ods
  
  
• Fewer than 1% of asylum claims from last year’s small boat arrivals have been processed:
  Irregular migration to the UK, year ending March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
  
  
• Only 0.1% of people the government has tried to return to safe countries they travelled through have actually been returned (23 out of approximately 24,000 who the government considered “inadmissible”):
  (Inadmissibility) How many people do we grant protection to? - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
  
  
• Hotel use has persisted and currently stands at 47,500, despite the Prime Minister’s pledge to remove 10,000 people from hotels immediately:
  (IMB_03) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1160634/statistics-relating-to-the-illegal-migration-bill-data-tables-to-may-2023.ods

Specific: 

• Rishi Sunak says he has “signed the largest ever small boats deal with France”, but it doesn’t include returns. He completely failed to negotiate a returns agreement or secure a deal to cover returns and legal routes. The Tories voted against Labour’s proposal to negotiate such a deal:
  NC16, illegal_migration_rep_day_0426 (parliament.uk)
  
  
• Rishi Sunak says he has “delivered a new deal with Albania”, but it isn’t working to return Albanian asylum seekers:
  
  

o   Despite 12,000 Albanians arriving by small boat last year, only 91 have even reached the point of having a decision made on their case:
Irregular migration to the UK, year ending March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

o   The Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick admitted small boat asylum applicants are not being returned and only a few hundred people, mainly foreign national offenders rather than asylum seekers, have been returned:
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick says 'hundreds' of migrants have been returned to Albania under government's deal | News UK Video News | Sky News

o   Total enforced returns for all immigration types are still lower than before the pandemic:
(IMB_05) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1160634/statistics-relating-to-the-illegal-migration-bill-data-tables-to-may-2023.ods

o   The government voted against Labour’s plan to fast-track asylum decisions for safe countries like Albania, which would have allowed for small boat arrivals to be returned:
NC10, illegal_migration_rep_rm_0424.pdf (parliament.uk)

• Rishi Sunak says he has “established a new permanent Small Boats Operational Command with 700 new staff”, but it isn’t stopping the gangs:
  
  

o   The number of convictions for people smuggling are down almost 40% on 2010:
Offence Code 78.2, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1158218/outcomes-by-offence-2022.xlsx

o   The government has failed to back Labour’s plan for a new elite cross-border police unit to tackle the gangs upstream, and voted against removing suspected terrorists who enter the country on small boats:
NC21 - illegal_migration_cwh_day_0328.pdf (parliament.uk)
NC15 - illegal_migration_rep_day_0426 (parliament.uk)

• Rishi Sunak says he has “increased illegal working raids by 50%”:
  
  

o   Total enforcement visits are still significantly lower than pre-pandemic:
(IMB_04), https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1160634/statistics-relating-to-the-illegal-migration-bill-data-tables-to-may-2023.ods

o   But the government is issuing around a third of the illegal working penalties it issued in 2016 – down from 3,000 to just 1,100
(CP_02) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1158618/IE_Q1_2023_Published.ods

• Rishi Sunak says he has “secured the passage of the Stop the Boats Bill through the House of Commons, which goes further than any other previous immigration bill to ensure that if you come here illegally, you will be detained and swiftly removed.” But even the Home Office admits the costs will double and even former Tory Home Secretaries think it won’t work: