Border Security, Asylum and Immigration
Bill
“My Government will seek to strengthen the border and make
streets safer. A Bill will be introduced to modernise the asylum
and immigration system, establishing a new Border Security
Command and delivering enhanced counter terror powers to tackle
organised immigration crime”
- Strong and effective border security is vital to protect our
national security. Small boat crossings are undermining our
border security and costing lives. Existing policies have failed
to deter crossings or prosecute the people smugglers responsible,
and our current asylum system is broken.
- The Bill will support our priority of secure and stronger
borders and a properly controlled and managed asylum system by
launching a Border Security Command to bring criminal people
smugglers to justice, tackling criminal gangs who exploit
migrants and fuel the small boats crisis, and clearing the asylum
backlog to end hotel use and increase returns.
What does the Bill do?
- The Bill will enable stronger borders and a properly
controlled and managed asylum system by:
-
giving the new Border Security Command and wider law
enforcement the tools and powers they need to crack down on
criminal gangs by building on the success of robust
powers to counter terrorism and including stronger powers for
law enforcement officers to investigate involvement in
organised immigration crime for example in stopping and
searching at the border.
-
providing a strong deterrent and penalty for
criminals involved in organised immigration crime
(OIC), ensuring there are stronger penalties in
place against a range of OIC and border criminality,
including preparatory offences such as enabling the
advertising the services of a migrant smuggling group and
precursor offences such as relating to the supply of
materials needed to facilitate organised crime gangs.
-
fixing the broken asylum system, making it
more efficient and effective to ensure the rules are properly
enforced by ending hotel use through clearing the asylum
backlog, ensuring fast-track returns for individuals coming
from safe countries and ending the failed and incredibly
costly Migration and Economic Development Partnership to
redirect money into the Border Security Command.
Territorial extent and application
- The Bill will extend and apply UK-wide
Key facts
- The Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP)
with Rwanda has failed to deter boat crossings. After
two-and-a-half years, no enforced relocations to Rwanda have
taken place, and crossings in the first half of the year reached
record highs.
- Rwanda has to date received £290 million under the MEDP, with
only four volunteers transferred. Withdrawing from the MEDP now
will save over £100 million in future payments to Rwanda,
alongside tens of millions of pounds of additional payments for a
small number of individuals to be relocated.
- Under the previous government's Illegal Migration Act, the
vast majority of those claiming asylum after arriving via small
boat since March 2023 have been stuck in a backlog, eligible for
accommodation with no realistic prospect of removal even for
those from safe countries. This has led to a new backlog of
claims.
- In the last financial year, total asylum support costs
exceeded £5 billion, resulting in a Reserve Claim of £4 billion
above forecast spend, driven by the use of asylum hotels which
cost the taxpayer almost £8 million per day.
