CRACKDOWN ON FOREIGN CROOKS

Tougher new rules to boot them out fast

TOUGH action to speed up the removal of foreign crooks is being proposed today.

Appeals against deportation lodged by criminals from overseas would be dealt with by the courts within 28 days.

The crackdown would also apply to asylum seekers who lose their claims to stay in Britain.

The average time for the tribunal process is more than 65 days – with some cases even lasting 100 days.

Justice Secretary Liz Truss, who is unveiling the plan today, said: “It is vital that foreign nationals who have no right to remain in the country should be removed as quickly as possible.”

The ambitious proposals come after figures yesterday showed that the removal of failed asylum seekers has plunged to a record low.

The new system is intended to replace

a previous fast-track system which was quashed in 2015 by a court ruling.

It deemed the system was unlawful as it aimed to complete within 12 working days and was coupled with insufficient safeguards.

However, the Court of Appeal did not dispute the principle of a swifter appeals process.

The Ministry of Justice believes the new scheme could speed up about 2,000 cases a year and save taxpayers some £2.7million annually.

Ms Truss said: “We must ensure that foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers are not exploiting the justice system by attempting to stay in the UK after their claims have been rejected.

Sanctuary

“Our proposals are also better for detainees as it will see their detention time cut.”

The new system proposes to cut the maximum time between a Home Office decision on the claimant’s immigration status and their appeal conclusion to between 25 and 28 working days.

Safeguards include a case management review for each claimant and more powers for judges to decide whether cases should be sped up.

The claimant could then potentially appeal to one higher tribunal but only those with a very strong case can go forward. The independent Tribunal Procedure Committee will now consider the plan.

The crackdown comes as Home Office figures reveal that fewer than 3,500 failed asylum seekers left last year either voluntarily or by enforced removal, compared with more than 10,000 in 2010 and more than 18,000 in 2006.

In 2016 alone, more than 21,000 claims for sanctuary were refused, while the number of applications for asylum topped 38,000.

The backlog of cases of asylum seekers deemed “subject to removal action” stood at nearly 27,000 last year – not including the thousands embroiled in legal appeals against the rejection of their applications to stay.

At current rates it would take more than seven years to remove this backlog. Former Labour minister Yvette Cooper, chairman of the Commons’ Home Affairs Select Committee, promised to challenge ministers over the latest figures.

She said: “The Select Committee has warned about Border Force performance many times yet it seems to be getting worse.”

Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of the Migration Watch UK think tank, said: “As long as anyone who claims asylum has a 75 per cent chance of staying in the UK, legally or otherwise, there will continue to be queues in Calais.”

A Home Office spokesperson said the UK has a “proud history” of granting asylum but “will seek to enforce the removal” of people found not to need protection.

EFFORTS to remove foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers from the country have been woefully ineffective for a number of years. The Home Office is notorious for its inability to process cases and to make sure that people who have no right to be in this country are actually deported.

This is not something that is likely to improve drastically overnight. Issues such as absurd European human rights laws, the failure to keep tabs on asylum seekers and the unwillingness of politically correct officials to prioritise foreign criminals all play a role in helping people avoid deportation.

And despite mounting fury over this the problem has been getting worse. Official figures revealing that the removal of failed asylum seekers has hit a record low merely highlight the authorities’ struggles.

This set of appalling statistics seems to have been enough to shock ministers and civil servants out of their stupor. It is welcome to see already new plans to speed up the appeals process and to remove those with no right to remain.

But we have heard plenty of times before that the Government is about to take tough action only to see little improvement actually being made.

In Theresa May we have a nononsense prime minister who respects ordinary people’s concerns. As a former home secretary she also has a good understanding of these difficulties.

Let’s hope her Government can succeed where others have failed.