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Great Britain strengthens deportation program: 15 new countries affected!
The British Home Secretary will announce an accelerated expulsion of convicted foreigners, including new countries, on August 10, 2025.
Great Britain strengthens deportation program: 15 new countries affected!
On August 10, 2025, the UK Home Office announced that it would further expand its program to accelerate the expulsion of foreign criminals. The “expel now, appeal later” program will also include 15 new countries in the future, bringing the total to 23. This measure allows the British government to deport foreign nationals before they have fully served their sentences - a decision that initially attracted a lot of attention.
The expanded program draws on a list of countries that includes, among others, Angola, Botswana and Lebanon. Originally the program consisted of only eight countries, which also included Tanzanian, Estonia and Belize. In this context, Interior Minister Yvette Cooper emphasized that foreign criminals had often abused the immigration system. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is pursuing the goal of greatly reducing immigration, which is clear from the high number of expulsions.
Strengthening measures
An impressive 19,000 people have been expelled from the UK since July 2024, the highest figure since 2018. Expulsions have increased by a whopping 24% compared to the previous year. Among those expelled were 2,925 foreign criminals, an increase of 21%. These drastic measures are underpinned by an increase in immigration control staff: around 1,000 employees have been retrained to strengthen compliance with immigration laws.
The British government has also launched a campaign encouraging companies to check the legal status of their employees in order to prevent illegal employment. The number of raids on companies suspected of hiring undocumented workers increased by 38% between July 2024 and January 2025.
Criticism of the measures
Despite the high rates of expulsions, there are significant concerns about the humanity of these practices. Human rights organizations have expressed concerns about possible violations of the rights of asylum seekers and the psychological consequences of the expulsions. To draw public attention to this sensitive area, the government has even begun publishing images of expulsion proceedings, which has been criticized as dehumanizing.
In the political arena, a new white paper on immigration is currently being prepared, which proposes stricter rules. A draft law on border security and the asylum system is also currently being discussed, which aims to impose harsher penalties on punished smugglers. These measures are causing divided opinions in British society: many citizens are critical of the fairness and humanity of current immigration policy.
In order to overcome the infrastructure challenges, which, according to Nadia Eghbal in her book “Des routes et des ponts”, also affect immigration, both physical and digital facilities are necessary. These overarching themes show that in a society that is increasingly polarized, it is important that we address the complexities of migration and the associated social impacts.