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Removal of foreign criminals and irregular migrants reaches near-decade high, Home Office says

Latest Home Office figures show around 80,000 enforced and voluntary returns under Labour government

By EIN
Home Office Immigration Enforcement vehicle [Source: Wikipedia] [Credit: Philafrenzy CC BY-SA 4.0]

In a post on social media last week, the Home Office said that the latest provisional figures showed the removal of foreign criminals and people without the legal right to remain in the UK had reached a near-decade high.

Data published last week (available here) covering the period from 1 July 2024 to 31 July 2026 recorded 80,286 returns, including both enforced and voluntary returns. Of those, 19,622 were enforced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK, while 11,733 involved foreign national offenders and 24,471 were asylum-related returns.

The Home Office noted that 78,137 returns took place during the two years from July 2024 to June 2026, compared with 51,542 in the preceding two-year period up to July 2024, representing an increase of 52%.

In the latest 12 months covered by the figures, 39,690 returns were recorded, up 5% on the previous year. Returns of foreign national offenders increased by 11%, while asylum-related returns rose by 10%. The total number of both enforced and voluntary returns involving people who had arrived in the UK by small boat increased by 39%.

The figures are provisional and are based on live operational systems.

Meanwhile, The Independent reported last week that the Labour Government had spent almost £40 million on its assisted voluntary returns programme since coming to power in July 2024.

According to The Independent, migrants eligible for the scheme can receive financial support of up to £3,000 to help them return to their country of origin. The article noted that Brazilians accounted for almost half of those accepted for the scheme last year.

The Home Office says voluntary returns are generally less expensive than enforced removals.

A Home Office spokesperson was quoted as saying: "We save taxpayers millions of pounds by encouraging those here illegally to leave voluntarily. Our success in ramping up both forced and voluntary returns has seen this government return over 80,000 people."