Failed asylum seekers are to be deported back to Bangladesh from the UK under a fast-track returns deal.
Nearly 11,000 Bangladeshis entered Britain on visas last year only to lodge asylum claims within 12 months in an attempt to stay permanently, reports The Telegraph.
The migrants came on international student, worker or visitor visas in the year to March last year in an attempt to exploit a “back door” to Britain by claiming asylum. Just 5 per cent of Bangladeshis’ initial asylum claims are successful.
Now Michael Tomlinson, the Illegal migration minister, has signed a fast-track returns deal with Bangladesh to streamline the deportation of not only failed asylum seekers but also foreign national offenders and individuals who have overstayed their visas.
The returns agreement will streamline the returns process by removing a mandatory interview for cases where there is good supporting evidence for removal.
The returns deal was agreed at the first joint UK-Bangladesh working group on home affairs in London this week.
Both countries committed to strengthening their partnership and intensifying cooperation on economic, cultural and social issues.
Mr Tomlinson said, “Speeding up removals is a vital part of our plan to stop people coming or staying here illegally. Bangladesh is a valued partner and it is fantastic that we are bolstering our ties with them on this and a range of other issues.
“We have already seen clear evidence that these agreements have a significant impact on illegal migration. Global issues require global solutions and I look forward to working with Bangladesh and other partners to create a fairer system for all.”
Visas grant permission to stay in the UK for a set period – usually just a few months. But by claiming asylum applicants are highly likely to remain here indefinitely because the Home Office faces huge obstacles to deporting them, including human rights laws.
Official documents – leaked last month and covering the year to March 2023 – show a record 21,525 asylum claims were made by visa holders, a 154 per cent annual rise.
It means one in every 140 people who entered on a visa went on to claim asylum. During the past decade, more than 102,000 applied to stay after being allowed in only temporarily.
Pakistan was the largest nationality among claimants, with nearly 17,400 cases, followed by Bangladesh at 11,000, India (7,400), Nigeria (6,600) and Afghanistan (6,000).
The huge numbers of asylum claims lodged by visa holders are logged on a UK home office database called Vast (Visa-Asylum Switching Tables).
The joint working group also committed to continue to facilitate legal migration through existing visa routes, tackling illegal migration with enhanced cooperation on visa abuse, and strengthening data sharing.
Last year, 26,000 people who had no right to be in the UK were returned to their home countries, 74 per cent more than in 2022.
A fast-track returns deal signed with Albania helped to reduce the number of small boat arrivals from the country by more than 90 per cent.
