Foreign criminals from India and 14 other countries will be deported before their human rights appeals are heard, as the government announced an expansion of its "deport now, appeal later" policy.
Yvette Cooper, the British home secretary, stated that foreign criminals had been "exploiting" the immigration system by "remaining in the UK for months or even years while their appeals drag on".
She has expanded a scheme that allows the UK to deport offenders who have had their human rights claims against removal denied, with any appeals heard from abroad via video link.
It comes as the government struggles to address the small boat crisis. On Saturday, another 435 migrants arrived in small boats and were brought to shore, the highest number since the "one-in, one-out" agreement with France was announced.
The total number of people arriving by boat this year has reached 25,000, faster than in any previous year.
The rules currently apply to foreign offenders from eight countries, but ministers are expanding the list to include 15 more, including India, Bulgaria, and Australia.
The scheme now includes Angola, Botswana, Brunei, Canada, Guyana, Indonesia, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Uganda, and Zambia.
The scheme is intended to avoid lengthy human rights appeals, which can keep offenders from being deported due to court backlogs and delays.
Labour has tightened its deportation policy in response to criticism from the Conservatives and Reform UK that foreign criminals were occupying too many jail cells.
The Home Office announced on Sunday that it would change the law to allow foreign offenders to be deported immediately after conviction in order to reduce the number of migrants in British prisons.
Ms. Cooper clarified: "Those who commit crimes in our country cannot be allowed to manipulate the system, which is why we are restoring control and sending a clear message that our laws must be respected and will be enforced."
The Home Office stated that expanding "deport now, appeal later" would help "scale-up" the UK's ability to remove foreign criminals. A Home Office spokesman, however, could not provide a figure for the number of deportations that would occur under the new rules because decisions would be made on a "case-by-case basis".
The Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, stated that the move would save £54,000 per prisoner each year.
Since Labour took power last year, nearly 5,200 foreign offenders have been deported, a 14% increase over the previous 12 months.
Although officials have stated that increasing deportations will help relieve pressure on overcrowded prisons, Ministry of Justice figures from the end of June show that there are currently only 772 prisoners from the 15 new countries covered by "deport now, appeal later".
Only Indians are the most common nationalities among current prisoners from the new countries. Botswana and Brunei have no offenders in prison right now.
The "deport now, appeal later" scheme for human rights claims was introduced in 2014, but it was declared illegal by the Supreme Court three years later, in cases where deportation would prevent an offender from giving live evidence in their appeal.
The court noted that providing evidence via a video link could be sufficient if it was financially and logistically feasible, effectively limiting the policy to countries where video appeal facilities were reasonably available.
The UK currently has video appeals agreements with eight countries, including Tanzania, Belize, Finland, and Estonia.
The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, responded: "We are leading diplomatic efforts to increase the number of countries where foreign criminals can be swiftly returned, and if they want to appeal, they can do so safely from their home country." Under this program, we are investing in international partnerships that will strengthen our security and make our streets safer."
