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The UK announced new funding to crack down on illegal migration as it deports the largest number of people from the country in years.
The Labour Government says 13,500 people with no right to be in the UK have been removed since they took office, the most since 2018. They have organised 33 charter flights since they took office and used raids to find some of these illegal migrants.
The Government also announced about £8 million ($10.1 million) in funding for new technology, including body worn cameras and biometric kits, to support the efforts.
Labour is under pressure to bring net migration numbers down. Immigration was a key election issue when the British people went to the polls in July, with former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s failure to curb the number of arrivals contributing to the Tories’ defeat to Keir Starmer’s party as the anti-migrant Reform UK Party gained ground.
“Since the election, we have intensified our efforts to crackdown on exploitation and illegal working — the number of operations and arrests are up,” Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement Sunday.
The number of long-term migrants arriving in the UK slipped in the year to June, but remains historically high despite curbs introduced by the last Conservative Government.
The continued arrival of migrants on small boats across the English Channel led to far-right riots and attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers earlier this year.
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