The government has announced that it has deported almost 13,500 people since coming to power, something ministers say proves their tough approach towards migrants but which human rights campaigners have warned could put lives at risk.
The government says it is on track to deliver the highest number of returns for five years and includes the four biggest return flights ever.
The Observer revealed earlier this month that at least three of these four flights were returns to Brazil, and it is thought the fourth is also likely to be going there.
Between 5 July and 7 December 2024, a total of 13,460 returns were recorded, most of them voluntary. But the number of enforced returns rose by 25% compared with the same period in 2023.
The Home Office organised deportation flights to at least seven countries, including Pakistan, Nigeria and Albania. Sources in the department confirmed that 37 people were removed on the Pakistan flight. One of those forcibly removed was a refused asylum seeker whose wife was a dependant on his asylum claim.
The Home Office removed him but left his wife in the UK. Human rights organisations warned that some of those deported would have been forcibly separated from family members.
Emma Ginn, director of the charity Medical Justice, which works to support the health of immigration detainees facing removal from the UK, said: “The new data being celebrated by the government includes real people who have been unable to access legal representation, nor the medical and expert evidence needed to properly present their case, meaning some may face real risk on forced return to their country.
“Our volunteer doctors have visited some of them and documented their physical and psychological scars of torture as well as deterioration due to the notoriously dangerous UK immigration detention conditions. Many have been forcibly separated from their family, their friends and their community.”
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, is also announcing plans to increase enforcement activity against migrants found to be working in the UK illegally. On Saturday she visited Rome to meet her counterpart, Italian interior minister Matteo Piantedosi, in a bid to act against people-smuggling gangs.
Cooper said: “Illegal working is a blight on our economy. It is deeply exploitative and undercuts those employers who do the right thing and play by the rules.
“Since the election, we have intensified our efforts to crack down on exploitation and illegal working – the number of operations and arrests are up, and we are on track to meet our target of increasing removals to the highest level for five years.”
The government has also established a cross-government unit to bolster border security with the establishment of a new joint international irregular migration unit made up of officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Home Office.
Foreign secretary David Lammy said: “Migration isn’t simply a domestic issue. It’s intertwined with international challenges from conflict to the climate crisis and cross-border crime. Smashing the gangs means working with our partners abroad.
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“This Foreign Office is working hand in glove with the Home Office to tackle irregular migration with our new joint international irregular migration unit.”
Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, said: “It’s deeply disappointing to see so little change of attitude or understanding by the new government.
“Racing to remove larger numbers of people from the country is not going to reduce human exploitation and does nothing to dismantle organised crime.
“The dangers in this include that people with good claims to stay or who ought to be key witnesses in the investigation or prosecution of those who have exploited them are among those being hastily expelled.
“That ministers have barely had time to repair the damage done to the immigration system by the previous government increases the concern that many people’s removal may be unsafe and unwise.”