The British government on Sunday announced that it would expand a scheme forcing some foreign nationals to have appeals against convictions heard from abroad, to prevent them delaying deportations.
The number of countries enrolled in the initiative would nearly treble to 23, with people from those nations now to be deported before they can appeal their convictions, it said.
In a separate announcement, British Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood said she intends to change the law so most foreign criminals would be deported immediately when they receive a prison sentence.
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Foreign national offenders make up about 12 percent of the prison population, and the move could save money, she said.
The steps come as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s center-left Labour government faces intense domestic pressure over immigration, as Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party surges in polls. Farage, a longtime critic of immigration, has made the issue central to his party’s messaging, alongside a focus on crime.
Starmer’s government, which has slumped in popularity since taking power a year ago, has made a flurry of announcements on both policy areas in an apparent bid to counter Reform’s appeal.
The British Home Office said the expansion of the pre-appeal deportation scheme would increase “the UK’s ability to remove foreign criminals at the earliest opportunity.”
It would also ease pressure on overcrowded prisons, it said.
The ministry added that about 5,200 convicted criminals with foreign passports had been removed since July last year, claiming that represented a 14 percent year-on-year increase.
Under the “deport now appeal later” scheme, those convicted and whose human rights claims have been refused would have appeals heard from their home countries using video technology. It has already been used for people from Tanzania, Finland, Estonia, Belize and four other countries but would be expanded to 15 additional countries.
They include European nations Latvia and Bulgaria, African countries Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, Western allies Australia and Canada as well as India, Indonesia, Lebanon and Malaysia.
The British government said ministers are discussing with other countries about joining the scheme.
“For far too long, foreign criminals have been exploiting our immigration system, remaining in the UK for months or even years while their appeals drag on,” British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
“That has to end. Those who commit crimes in our country cannot be allowed to manipulate the system,” she added.
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