UK Deportations of Foreign Criminals Fell 79 per cent Last Year, Despite Patel’s Promises to ‘Get Tough’

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 12: United Kingdom Home Secretary Priti Patel talks at a coronav
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

The United Kingdom deported 4,000 fewer convicted criminals last year, despite repeated promises from Home Secretary Priti Patel to ramp up deportations.

In 2020, the Home Office only successfully removed 1,128 criminals from the country, which the government hailed as a success in overcoming the efforts of “do-gooding” celebrities, and activist lawyers, who all sought to block deportation flights.

Figures reported on by The Sun reveal that the number of deportations fell dramatically last year, however, compared to the 5,322 deported in 2019. The number of removals was also just twenty per cent of the ten-year average of  5,405 per year.

Commenting on the failure of the government to keep its promises, the Migration Watch UK think tank said: “It’s all very well for the Home Secretary to talk tough, but the fact is the number of foreign national offenders being removed over the last few years has plummeted.”

“Meanwhile, the courts seem to be releasing would-be deportees into the community the moment their lawyers ask for bail.

“The public expect their security and rights to be put before those doing their utmost to avoid deportation following their heinous crimes,” Migration Watch UK concluded.

Sources within the Home Office claimed the steep decline in deportations came as a result of difficulties presented during the Chinese coronavirus crisis.

The Conservative Party has consistently pledged to increase the number of deportations, yet, as with the promises to halt the flow of illegal immigration, the government has failed to deliver meaningful action.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has claimed that the government will finally ramp up deportations following the UK’s official departure from the European Union, however, it is unclear whether that will actually come to fruition as Britain will still be bound by the European Court of Human Rights, which is not an EU institution.

The government has frequently placed the blame on their failures to deport criminals on “activist lawyers” who often launch last-minute legal appeals.

In December, for example, an entire deportation flight with 23 illegal migrants was blocked following a legal challenge.

Incompetence has also been a factor, on the other hand, with a convicted Albanian killer successfully skirting deportation last month as a result of a legal blunder from the Home Office in which the migrant was arrested before setting foot on British soil and therefore able to claim asylum.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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