Prime Minister announces massive surge in immigration enforcement as returns reach 24,000 since the election
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-30)

The Prime Minister today (Monday 31 March) announced the government has returned more than 24,000 individuals with no right to be in the UK since the General Election – the highest returns rate for eight years.

- More than 24,000 people with no right to be here returned since July
- Highest rate of returns in eight years
- 21% increase enforced returns as government begins to restore order to immigration system under the Plan for Change
The Prime Minister today (Monday 31 March) announced the government has returned more than 24,000 individuals with no right to be in the UK since the General Election – the highest returns rate for eight years.

Speaking at the Organised Immigration Crime Summit, where over 40 countries and organisations have come together to agree new action to smash people-smuggling gangs, the Prime Minister outlined how the government is finally restoring order to the immigration system after years of failure.

The continued rise in removals includes a 21% increase in enforced returns and a 16% increase in foreign national offenders being removed from the UK since July 5th, including the 4 biggest returns charter flights in the UK’s history, with a total of more than 850 people on board.

The massive surge in removals followed the government’s immediate action to redeploy staff across the Home Office to work on policies that deliver results.

At the Summit the Prime Minister set out the approach this government is taking to finally take on organised immigration crime – one that moves beyond gimmicks and instead delivers hard graft, international leadership, and delivers on working people’s priorities for secure borders.

He set out how this is based on giving law enforcement tougher powers than ever to smash the smuggling gangs, ramping up removals to record levels, surging illegal working raids to end the false promise of jobs used by gangs to sell spaces on boats and leading a renewed international law enforcement effort.

Since taking office the government has reset its approach to global cooperation, striking new bilateral agreements with key international partners including France, Germany, Italy, and Balkan states to disrupt smuggling networks and accelerate removals.

This is backed by the work of Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt who has been negotiating new agreements to bring together international policing, intelligence, and border enforcement to dismantle organised immigration crime networks at home and abroad.

This work has already seen arrests of major people smuggling kingpins through joint investigations with the National Crime Agency.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

Immigration crime funds the vile people-smuggling gangs that trade in human misery, breach our borders and threaten Britain’s economic security. This government is taking back control, doing the hard graft needed to deliver results, working with our international allies to smash these gangs and secure our borders.

We’ve already removed more than 24,000 people with no right to be here and we’re finally shutting down exploitative illegal working, dismantling criminal networks, while forcing people-smuggling gangs out of business.

For too long, the UK was a soft touch. That ends now. No more gimmicks, no empty promises, just serious action for British security.

With over 40 international partners joining the UK’s call to treat people-smuggling like terrorism, today’s summit marks the beginning of a new global coalition to take the fight to the criminal gangs at every stage of the smuggling chain.

This is backed by landmark legislation through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, giving new powers to seize migrants’ phones to identify smugglers, criminalise those who endanger lives at sea, and ensure every business carries out right-to-work checks – ending the exploitation of illegal labour for good.

Additional information:

Between 5 July and 22 March 2025 there were 24,103 returns, the highest 9 month period compared to any 9-month period since 2017. Prior to this from Jan – Sept 2017, returns were 25,225.

Of total returns since 5 July 2024:
- there were 6,339 enforced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK
- 3,594 were of foreign national offenders (FNOs)
- 6,781 were asylum related returns
From 5 July 2024 to 22 March 2025 there have been 46 charter flights for returns to countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America

The full stats can be seen here (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/returns-from-the-uk-and-illegal-working-activity-since-july-2024/illegal-working-activity-from-5-july-2024-to-22-march-2025).