HOME OFFICE News
Release (198/2008) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 19
November 2008
Quarterly Control
of Immigration and Quarterly Accession Monitoring statistics
published today.
More people were removed from the country between July and
September this year than in any other third quarter since 2002,
the Home Office announced today.
In the three months to September this year 17, 525 people were
removed - a nine per cent increase on the same period the previous
year and the highest number of removals in any third quarter for
six years.
This included a 14 per cent increase in non asylum removals - a
group that includes foreign national prisoners - with removals
increasing from 12,680 in the third quarter of 2007 to 14,405 in
the same period this year.
This is further evidence that the Home Office is succeeding in
its commitment to remove anyone who has no right to be here - with
a focus on targeting the most harmful first. Last year the UK
Border Agency removed over 4,200 foreign prisoners and
today's figures suggest it is well on track to meet its tough
target to remove 5,000 before the end of 2008.
In the first six months of this year over 2,500 foreign prisoners
were removed - a 23 per cent increase on the same period last year.
Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said:
"The huge shake-up we have made to the immigration system is
paying off. Our borders are tougher than ever before, asylum
applications remain low, and we are removing record numbers of
foreign law breakers.
"Last year someone was removed every eight minutes -
including more than 4,200 foreign national prisoners. Today's
figures show that we are well on track to kick out even more this year."
To speed up the removal process further still, the Government
announced earlier this year that the capacity of the immigration
detention estate will be increased by 60 per cent, with an
additional 1,300 to 1,500 spaces for immigration offenders within
two years.
A dramatic drop in the number of Eastern Europeans registering to
work in the UK was recorded by other statistics published by the
Home Office today. The Accession Monitoring Report shows that the
number of applications from A8 nationals looking for work fell
from 59,000 between July and September 2007 to 38,000 in the same
period this year - a drop of 36 per cent. Applications are now at
their lowest level since the eight accession countries joined the
EU in 2004.
Applications for accession worker cards and registration
certificates from Bulgaria and Romania - the A2 nations - have
also fallen to record lows. There were 6,515 applications from
these two nations between July and September this year - a drop of
31 per cent from the same period last year when there were 9,470.
Mr Woolas said:
"Today's figures show a dramatic
drop in the number of Poles coming here to work this year -
suggesting that regeneration in Poland is encouraging people to
stay in their home country. On top of this our new points system
means only those from outside Europe with the skills we need will
be able to work or study here and no more.
"Had the points system been in place last year there would
have been a 12 per cent reduction in the number of people coming
here to work through the equivalent work permit route."
Border security is tougher than ever - nearly 16,000 individual
attempts to enter the UK illegally were prevented between April
and October this year - a sixty per cent increase from the same
period last year. In 2007 asylum applications were at their lowest
level since 1993 and they remain low, with 6,620 applications in
this quarter.
A performance document published today confirms that the UK
ranked 11th in Europe in terms of asylum seekers per head. It also
showed that last year failed asylum seeker removals did not exceed
the number of anticipated unfounded asylum claims - this reflects
the Government's focus on targeting the most harmful people
first. The UK Border Agency's success in this is illustrated
by the fact that last year they removed nearly 50,000 non asylum
seekers and lawbreakers - the highest level since 2002.
These figures are released as the Home Office carries out the
biggest shake-up of the immigration system in a generation,
including the introduction of:
* a tough new Australian-style points system to allow only the
workers Britain needs to come here;
* the fingerprinting of
every visa applicant from across the globe - so far more than 3.1
million sets of fingerprints have been taken, detecting over 4,400
cases of identity swaps; and
* civil penalties targeting those
employing illegal workers - since February over 1,000 fines worth
nearly £10 million pounds have been issued.
Later this month the Government will introduce compulsory ID
cards for all foreign nationals. These will lock people to one
identity and - in time - help businesses who employ foreign
workers to crack down on illegal working.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. Statistical publications being published today by the Home
Office on its website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk
are:
* Control of Immigration, quarterly statistical summary -
Quarter Three 2008
* Accession Monitoring Report to September
2008 (A8)
* Bulgarian and Romanian (A2) Accession statistics
Q3 2008
2. Asylum Performance - 2007 can be found at the following link: http://ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/reports/publicperformancetarget/
020 7035 3535