Indian, Bulgarian and Australian criminals face deportation before they can lodge more human rights claims, under new plans. The Government is expanding the “Deport Now, Appeal Later” scheme to reduce the number of overseas offenders languishing in UK prisons.
Criminals from 23 countries could be kicked out under the scheme, which allows them to appeal via videolink. This is up from 8, the Home Office said. But of the new countries only India is among the top 10 nations by number of offenders in this country.
Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper said: “For far too long, foreign criminals have been exploiting our immigration system, remaining in the UK for months or even years while their appeals drag on.
“That has to end. Those who commit crimes in our country cannot be allowed to manipulate the system, which is why we are restoring control and sending a clear message that our laws must be respected and will be enforced.”
Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said: “We are leading diplomatic efforts to increase the number of countries where foreign criminals can be swiftly returned, and if they want to appeal, they can do so safely from their home country.
“Under this scheme, we’re investing in international partnerships that uphold our security and make our streets safer.”
The other countries now in the scheme are Angola, Botswana, Brunei, Canada, Guyana, Indonesia, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Uganda and Zambia.
The Home Office said the expansion of “deport now, appeal later” would help “scale up” the country’s ability to remove foreign criminals, alongside measures announced on Sunday to deport offenders as soon as they are sentenced.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the move, which requires parliamentary approval, would save £54,000 a year per prison place.
The “Deport Now, Appeal Later” scheme for human rights claims was introduced in 2014 but was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court three years later in cases where deportation would prevent the offender from giving live evidence in their appeal.
But the court noted that giving evidence over a video link could be sufficient, provided it was financially and logistically possible, in effect limiting the policy to countries where video appeal facilities were realistically available.
The UK currently has arrangements for video appeals with eight countries, including Tanzania, Belize, Finland and Estonia.
Baroness Jenny Chapman, the Foreign Office minister responsible for migration, in an interview with the Express, said there is “no legal reason” not to adopt a similar model for asylum appeals.
Diplomats could even be encouraged to raise the proposition with countries refusing to take back migrants.
Baroness Chapman told the Daily Express the Government is considering the shift when asked about the prospect of return hubs being set up for illegal migrants.
She said: “If they’ve applied for asylum here and their application has been declined, there’s no legal reason, in many cases, not all, because there will be some places that we wouldn’t want to send people back to Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran.
“But there are places where you could return them at that point. And then if they wanted to make an appeal, they could make that appeal in country, in their own country, and there is no legal reason why we can’t do that.”
Migrants can only appeal from abroad if they have already been given the legal right to appeal, meaning they will likely remain in the UK whilst they begin legal proceedings.
They currently have 28 days to appeal once they have left the country.
Asked to set out how it could work in practice, the Foreign Office minister said: “Suppose you have made your claim, it has been denied. You then have the ability to appeal.
“At the moment we’d be putting you up in a hotel for who knows how long, because it takes that long because of the backlogs. The Home Office has done a good job, and it’s getting better, thank goodness.
“But the idea that you get to stay in a hotel while you exhaust every legal process there is, is, I don’t think, the right way to think about this. We need to consider the ability to make sure that those claims can take place outside of the UK.”
Baroness Chapman said the move would signal “we’re serious about dealing with these things” and “that you can’t expect to come here and stay for years, building a life, improving your chances of getting your claim agreed, indefinitely, at taxpayers’ expense.”