UK seeks to speed up migrant returns

LONDON — Britain's Labour government is planning "a major surge" in returns of irregular migrants to countries including Iraq, an official said on Thursday, as it tries to clear an asylum backlog.

The interior ministry has posted a contract seeking commercial partners to support the "reintegration" of people with no right to live in the UK in their home countries.

The contract, worth £15 million over three years, was published last week and first reported by the Financial Times on Thursday.

The advert says the ministry is seeking "to identify appropriate reintegration delivery providers" to help migrants return from the UK to 11 different countries.

The countries are Albania, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Nigeria, Pakistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

Contractors will help with provision of food packs, assist the tracing of family members and provide support with accessing job markets among other things, according to the bid notice.

Interior minister Yvette Cooper announced last week that the government aims over the next six months to achieve the highest rate of deportations of failed asylum seekers in five years.

The goal is to remove more than 14,000 people by the end of the year, according to UK media reports.

 "The government is planning to deliver a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity to remove people with no right to be in the UK and ensure the rules are respected and enforced," a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

"Continued international cooperation with partner nations plays a critical role in this, and we will be working closely with a number of countries across the globe as part of the mission to end irregular migration."

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected to office early last month, has also pledged to "smash the gangs" of people smugglers bringing irregular migrants to Britain on small boats sailing across the Channel.

More than 20,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing from France on rudimentary vessels so far this year, according to the latest figures.

That is marginally up on last year's data for the same period, but down on 2022.

Refugee charities have urged the government to create more safe routes to deter people from making the perilous journey.

Official figures released last week showed that almost 119,000 people were waiting for a decision on their asylum application at the end of June 2024.