U.K. Sees a 50% Increase in Foreign National Prisoners Deported

Over 4,000 foreign national prisoners have been removed or deported from the UK in 2007 exceeding the Prime Minister’s target.

The Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) has removed over 50 per cent more foreign national prisoners than in 2006 after a shift in gear saw the agency target foreign criminals for removal. The 4,000 includes more than 20 killers, more than 200 sex offenders and more than 1,100 drug offenders.

In 2007 the BIA removed more than 45,000 people in the first three quarters of the year - that is one every eight and a half minutes - including failed asylum seekers, foreign national prisoners and other immigration offenders, such as illegal workers.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said “Foreign law breakers should be first in line for the first plane out of Britain. We promised to remove 4,000 foreign national prisoners this year and we meant it. People in Britain want to see changes to our immigration system and in 2008 we’ll see them. It’s the biggest shake up for 40 years.”

Over the next 12 months sweeping reforms to the immigration system will mean:

* the introduction of an Australian-style points-based system ensuring that only those benefiting Britain come to the UK to work or study;
* the roll out of electronic passenger screening to count people in and out of the country and check passenger information against watch lists before people even arrive on UK shores, protecting the UK border;
* checking the fingerprint of every single visa applicant in 2008; and
* introducing compulsory ID cards to all foreign nationals in the UK for more than six months to stop illegal access to jobs and benefits.

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