“Undesirable and Unreturnable” in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The issue of migrants convicted or suspected of serious criminality is one that has been very high on the media and political agenda in the UK in the last two decades. One of the most notorious incidents in recent history was the revelation, in 2006, that some 1,013 foreign national prisoners had been released without consideration being given to their deportation. This led to the resignation of the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, and prompted the incoming Home Secretary John Reid to institute a review which went far beyond the issue of foreign national offenders and extended to reform of the entire system of UK immigration regulation.1 Another no less publicised incident occurred in 2000, when nine Afghan nationals fleeing the Taliban regime hijacked an aircraft and directed it to land in London Stansted airport. These men were subsequently convicted for hijacking the plane, although their convictions were later quashed due to misdirection of the jury. As they were considered to be at risk if returned to Afghanistan the Home Office were instructed to grant these men and their families a limited form of leave to remain in the UK.2 In response the Home Secretary John Reid announced that he would introduce legislation to give the Home Office greater powers in respect of unreturnable migrants.3 The UK government’s response to asylum seekers and other migrants suspected of serious criminality is one which has attracted considerable legal, political and media attention in recent years, as will be explored in this paper. Part 2 of the paper focuses on foreign national offenders (FNOs), and outlines the scale and demographic of FNOs in the UK, the considerable barriers that exist to their removal and the measures the UK Home Office has taken to overcome these obstacles. Attention is then given to in-country approaches to unremovable FNOs, with particular focus on the use of detention and anti-terrorist control measures. Part 3 turns to another group of ‘undesirable’ migrants: asylum seekers excluded from refugee status under Article 1F of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the Refugee Convention). Again the demographic and scale of this group are considered, as are barriers to removal, opportunities for prosecution in the UK and abroad and Home Office policy in respect of such individuals that cannot be removed. This examination reveals that a large amount of time, resource and political pressure has focused on subverting the legal and practical barriers to the removal of undesirable migrants from the UK. However, a viable solution is unlikely to be reached unless and until the Home Office channels further energy into exploring alternative incountry solutions which are more than temporary in nature.