Fewer than 10,000 small boat migrants have been removed from the UK since the crisis began eight years ago, according to Home Office figures. In the year to June 2026, the Home Office removed just 3,310 arrivals, with a third of these sent back to Albania.
Deportations backlog grows
Labour is facing a growing deportations backlog as the number of foreign criminals living in Britain has soared past 20,000. Some convicted offenders from overseas are roaming the streets despite being eligible for removal, and the number of failed asylum seekers living in taxpayer-funded accommodation has also continued to rise, prompting fears many will never be removed.
Some 1,500 offenders from overseas have been given free homes because they cannot be deported. Of these, 929 have had their asylum claims and appeals rejected, the Home Office has admitted.
Section 4 support and human rights limits
This cohort, receiving Section 4 support which refers to housing and financial assistance, accounts for almost one in five of all failed asylum seekers still being helped by taxpayers. Home Office figures, revealed by Freedom of Information requests submitted by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, show 929 foreign national offenders are receiving Section 4 support.
The Home Office is increasingly relying on sending "difficult" cases to France under Keir Starmer's one-in-one-out deal with Emmanuel Macron. The number of such cases has doubled from 10,373 in the final three months of 2020.
Many countries refuse to take back their nationals. Human rights laws prevent the Home Office from deporting convicted criminals to countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Eritrea, Iran and Syria.
