British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the crackdown on illegal immigration as he pledged more staff to clear the United Kingdom's backlog of asylum claims by the end of next year.
After the official's remarks, Downing Street said that the commitment was not to abolish the current backlog of initial decisions, only claims that were made up to the end of June. Sunak unveiled a plan that would have a dedicated unit of 400 specialists who will be responsible for handling claims from Albanians.
Crackdown on Illegal Immigration
In response to the announcement, refugee charities immediately branded the plans "cruel" and "ineffective." In recent years, the asylum backlog has increased significantly, with 117,000 outstanding claims, relating to 143,377 individuals. All of them are waiting for an initial decision on their application and are unable to work legally.
Out of all of the applicants, nearly 100,000 people have already been waiting on a decision for more than six months. Sunak said that the government expected to "abolish the backlog of initial asylum decisions by the end of next year," as per BBC.
Later, the prime minister's office spokesman said that Sunak's pledge was only related to claims that were made before June 28. That was the time when the Nationality and Borders Act came into effect. In total, this means that the affected applications consisted of 92,601 initial asylum claims.
In a statement, Labor's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said that the prime minister's pledge was "already falling apart just hours after he made it." Sunak also labeled the small boats crisis a priority for his premiership after mounting pressure on the Home Office.
According to Yahoo News, Sunak's announcement comes as the number of people arriving in England across the Channel has more than doubled in just the last two years. Government figures showed that Albanians made up the majority of people who were traveling to the region via that specific route.
Sending Migrants Back Home
Sunak announced a brand new five-point strategy that would be used in dealing with illegal immigration, which includes plans to fast-track the return of Albanian asylum seekers to their home country and the clearance of the asylum backlog.
While speaking to parliament, the prime minister said that if a person enters the UK illegally, they should not be able to remain here. He added that they would be detained and swiftly returned either to their home country or to a safe country where their asylum claims will be considered by the local government.
Britain's Conservative government has, for a long time, considered migrants arriving on small boats to be a major political issue. This is particularly true in working-class areas in north and central England, where many accuse migrants of making it harder for locals to find work and for stretching public services.
Sunak also said that asylum seekers will be housed in disused holiday parks rather than hotels amid the crackdown on illegal immigration in the region. The prime minister said that "enough is enough," the Huffington Post reported.
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