12/12/2023
Illegal immigration is unsafe, unfair, and unsustainable. This is a fight that we can and must win. In fact, we are in the process of winning it.
Illegal entry is on the rise elsewhere across Europe. It is up by 80 per cent in the Mediterranean. Yet small boat arrivals to the UK are down by a third this year, thanks to the actions this government has taken. They include a very robust Illegal Migration Act, increased co-operation with France, returns deals with several countries, illegal working raids, tackling the supply of boats and parts, and arrests of people smugglers. We must and will make further progress, but the plan is working.
Last week, having announced big reductions to legal immigration, I got on a plane to Rwanda. The UK and Rwanda have a world-leading Migration and Economic Development Partnership, which other countries are looking at closely. Mass global migration is one of the biggest challenges of our time and it will require international co-operation.
Parliament has voted for third country relocation and it is very clear that the public supports the Rwanda plan. But we have been frustrated in the courts. The courts have not found against the principle of relocating people to a third country who enter the UK illegally. However, the Supreme Court shared the Court of Appeal’s fears that people sent to Rwanda could be “refouled” – sent on to a third country that might not be safe.
