Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has refused to guarantee that migrant deportations to France will begin in September, less than 24 hours after she first told Parliament that returns were expected to happen this month.
Under the new agreement between the UK and France, migrants who cross the Channel illegally are supposed to be returned to France. In exchange, France will allow approved applicants to move legally to the UK. However, when pressed on the timeline, Ms Cooper avoided giving a firm date and instead said the government would “continue to work” with French officials to make the plan possible.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also added pressure on the government, saying he wants to move much faster to clear migrants from hotels than the government’s current deadline, which could take until 2029. Speaking to Times Radio, Ms Cooper said: “We do believe it can be done earlier,” but she stopped short of promising immediate action.
The Home Secretary also announced that new applications to the refugee reunion route will be suspended this week. Instead, refugees will be placed under the same family migration rules that apply to everyone else. She confirmed that more detailed reforms to family reunion rules will be outlined later this year, with changes expected to roll out in the spring.
Another major part of Ms Cooper’s plan is a crackdown on international students who stay after their visas expire and then apply for asylum. She said around 15,000 students every year end up in the asylum system when their study visas run out. To tackle this, the Home Office has launched a new campaign to warn students and their families directly through emails and text messages. Nearly 10,000 students and dependants have already received these warnings, and tens of thousands more are expected to be contacted in the coming weeks.
The messages warn that any asylum claims without strong grounds will be “swiftly and robustly refused.” Ms Cooper said this approach is designed to stop people from using the asylum system as a way of staying in the UK long after their visas end.
However, critics are already questioning whether these new measures will have any real impact. Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, dismissed Ms Cooper’s plans as “just more waffle and words.” He told Sky News that his party would focus deportations mainly on young men in their 20s, arguing that the UK needs a tougher approach. According to him, it could take a full parliamentary term to remove around 600,000 illegal migrants currently in the country.
The migrant crisis remains one of the most divisive issues in British politics, with growing frustration over the slow pace of deportations and the ongoing use of hotels to house asylum seekers. While the government insists progress is being made, critics warn that delays and a lack of firm guarantees are fueling doubts over whether the system will ever be brought under control.