British PM Rishi Sunak unveils 5-step illegal immigration clampdown

British PM Rishi Sunak also announces plans for new legislation that will set an annual quota for refugees coming to the United Kingdom.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, December 14, 2022, set out a new five-step strategy to clamp down on illegal immigration, with a promise to end the government's backlog of asylum applications by the end of next year.

Hundreds of additional staff will be deployed to a new unit to monitor small boats crossing the English Channel as well as a dedicated unit to handle claims from Albanians – among the largest cohort of illegal migrants despite Albania being categorised as a safe country. The new plans also cover housing 10,000 asylum seekers waiting for their claims to be processed in less expensive accommodation than hotels.

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"It is unfair that people come here illegally. It is unfair on those with a genuine case for asylum when our capacity to help is taken up by people coming through, and from, countries that are perfectly safe," Mr. Sunak said in a statement in the House of Commons.

"It is not cruel or unkind to want to break the stranglehold of the criminal gangs who trade in human misery and who exploit our system and laws. Enough is enough. As currently constructed the global asylum framework has become obsolete,” he said.

Under the government's five-point agenda, which Mr. Sunak said had been devised by him and his Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, a new permanent unified Small Boats Operational Command will be set up to coordinate intelligence, interception, processing, and enforcement. It will involve more than 700 new staff and double the funding given to the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) for tackling organised immigration crime in Europe.

The second step he set out involves freed up immigration officials being able to increase raids on illegal working by 50 per cent. The third area of focus will be to counter the GBP 5.5 million daily bill for the use of hotels to house asylum seekers and make use of alternative sites such as disused holiday parks, former student halls, and surplus military sites.