Britain adopts new measures to combat illegal immigration

The British government has announced new measures to combat illegal immigration to the country.

The British government yesterday, Wednesday, August 21, introduced new measures to combat migrants who illegally attempt to cross the English Channel from France in small boats.

One of the key measures is the recruitment of 100 specialist intelligence and investigative officers by the National Crime Agency (NCA) to tackle and dismantle smuggling gangs that operate the English Channel. The UK government has also announced that employers who employ migrants without work permits will be penalised.

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper issued a statement saying, "We are taking strong and clear steps to strengthen our border security and ensure that the law is respected and enforced." She emphasized the deportation of more refugees whose asylum applications have been rejected in the last five years, adding that the level of deportations should reach at least 14,500 in the next six months.

The British government is planning to create 300 new places for illegal immigrants at two detention centres in Campsfield, Kidlington, and Haslaar, Cosport, according to the Daily Telegraph. Campsfield, which opened in 1993, was closed in 2019 amid allegations of abuse, but Yvette Cooper's confirmation of its reopening sparked outrage among local elected officials and human rights groups.

Reacting to the reopening of the detention centre, Labour MP Callum Miller posted on X Network, saying: "This action has a dark past. It is shocking that one of the first actions of this government is to reopen this detention centre without local consultation."

The UK government is already looking at new ways to deal with the influx of illegal immigrants, as well as the 2,300 places it currently has in detention centres. The Home Office said 300 officers have also been appointed to deal with thousands of asylum applications and rejected returns, including both voluntary and forced returns.

The government's measures come a week after violent anti-immigrant riots in the country following the murder of three girls in Southport in late July, when hundreds of Britons attacked hotels where asylum seekers were staying, backed by far-right groups, and stormed migrant businesses and Muslim mosques. More than 1,000 people were arrested in the attacks, according to the government.

Keir Starmer's government, while criticizing the Rishi Sunak government's deportation of refugees to Rwanda, canceled the project and announced that it would not send refugees to Rwanda but was considering other ways to deport them.