Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has told LBC of her plans to undergo major ECHR & Modern Slavery reforms.
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Shabana Mahmood will confirm major changes to the ECHR and Modern Slavery Act as part of a bid to deport more foreign criminals, LBC has been told.
The Home Secretary will set the scene for a fresh fight with some Labour MPs as she confirmed “the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration.”
It comes as the Government reveals that nearly 50,000 illegal migrants, including criminals, have been deported since Labour came to power last July.
After a lengthy review into Article 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, kicked off earlier this year by her predecessor, Yvette Cooper, the new Home Secretary will confirm that she plans to reform and “tweak” parts of the ECHR and Modern Slavery Acts.
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Ms Mahmood is also expected to announce tough new moves to copy parts of the Danish migration system in a bid to scale up the number of returns and deportations of illegal migrants.
Last month, she sent a team of officials to Denmark last month to learn about how their stricter system works and draw lessons for ministers here.
They successfully remove and deport 95 per cent of rejected asylum seekers.
It also has strict rules on family reunion for those over the age of 24, and restricts most refugees to a temporary stay in the country where they will eventually have to return home, when it is deemed safe to do so.
Minister for Migration, Mike Tapp, told LBC “we can’t leave” the ECHR but that the government would be “tweaking” it to make it work domestically.
He added there was too much “asylum shopping” across Europe and it would make sure that we are not seen as a “soft touch.”
Migrants try to board a smuggler’s inflatable dinghy in an attempt to cross the English Channel.
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Getty
Mr Tapp said: “We will do whatever it takes. We will lay out and make it less attractive for people to come here to bring down asylum shopping we’re seeing across Europe.
“What we see is abuse of the legal system, they are using it against us, that’s unacceptable.
“We are really keen to make sure the ECHR is fit for purpose here, we can’t leave it. We’ve got trade deals, peace deals, returns deals which are underpinned by that.
“We are making sure that domestically, we do what we can to make sure that it’s fair because that’s what the public expect, so we can deport and remove people who shouldn’t be here, ensuring that our asylum system is more in line with Europe.
“You will reduce that asylum shopping, so those aren’t travelling to us aren’t seen as a soft touch.”
It comes as the government announced that almost 50,000 illegal criminals, failed asylum seekers and immigration offenders have been deported since coming into power last year.
The announcement comes after Ms Mahmood confirmed that more than 100 Channel migrants had been returned under the Government’s ‘one in, one out’ deal.
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The Home Secretary says their plans have saved taxpayers millions of pounds, and its a 23 per cent increase to the previous 16 months.
There have been 9,714 enforced removals and 5,430 foreign national offender removals since November 2024, a 24 per cent and 12 per cent increase respectively, when compared to the previous 12-month period.
Ms Mahmood, said: “Nearly 50,000 illegal migrants have been removed or deported since the election.
“We’ve ramped up enforcement, deported foreign criminals from our streets, and saved taxpayers millions.
“I pledge today to scale up the removal and deportations of illegal migrants and do whatever it takes to secure our borders.”
The announcement comes after Ms Mahmood confirmed that more than 100 Channel migrants had been returned under the Government’s ‘one in, one out’ deal.
She confirmed to the Metro that 113 people who arrived by small boat have been deported in two months, with 84 arriving here by legal routes in return so far.
However, more than 8,000 people have arrived in the country on small boats since the first person was flown back took place on September 18.
Releasing the figures, Mahmood said that the deportations send a message to Channel crossers, saying: “If you enter the UK illegally, we will remove you as quickly as possible”.
She added: “We are ramping up action to tackle these unacceptable crossings and remove and deport those with no right to be here.
“We want to go further and faster to scale up these removals, but this shows our scheme is working. I will do whatever it takes to secure our borders”.