The number of jailed foreign criminals released into the community while awaiting deportation has reached a record high.
Government figures reveal that 11,769 individuals recorded as foreign national offenders (FNOs) have been released from jail, despite being subject to a deportation order.
Of those, over 3,700 have been waiting for five years or more to be removed from the UK, according to the Home Office’s latest immigration enforcement data.
The numbers have more than tripled within 10 years, with campaigners blaming “border chaos” and “huge abuse of human rights law” for the surge.
Under British law, foreign criminals face automatic deportation if they serve a prison sentence of 12 months or more.
FNOs who do not meet the criteria are also considered for deportation using “conducive and court recommended powers” of the Immigration Act 1971.
The Home Office says that “deportation is conducive to the public good, so wherever we can demonstrate this, deportation should be pursued.”
The figures also reveal a higher percentage of foreign criminals who have been paid by the government to return to their home country after release.
Over 470 offenders were returned in the second quarter of 2022—the latest figures available—under the Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS).
The scheme is to encourage FNOs to leave the UK at the earliest possible opportunity, reducing resources and costs associated with time spent in prison and immigration detention.
Albanian Surge
Another 297 foreign criminals were returned under the government’s Early Removal Sheet, which sees the removal of foreign nationals from prison at an earlier point in their sentence.All eligible foreign nationals in prison in England and Wales must be considered for removal under the scheme.
The latest figure is a drop from the previous quarter’s numbers, where 304 were removed from the UK.
The statistics come after the Hone Office revealed a 7 percent increase in the number of foreign criminals locked up in England’s prisons.
There were 10,321 foreign nationals held in custody as of June, representing 12 percent of the total prison population.
The government blamed a 22 percent increase in the FNO remand population, which contributed more than two-and-a-half times as many additional individuals as the 4 percent increase in the sentenced FNO population.
Those from the Balkans make up the biggest number of all foreign inmates in the UK’s soaring prison population, and fall just second to the biggest overall nationality—British prisoners.
As of May, almost 1,400 Albanian foreign nationals were in custody in England and Wales, compared to just over 800 in 2019.
The figures were revealed just days after the government announced it was sending 200 jailed Albanian prisoners home to serve the rest of their sentence.
Offenders handed terms of four years or more will return to their native country to serve the remainder, the Ministry of Justice said last week.
The arrangement will also see Britain provide support to Albania to help modernise its own prison system, according to the department.
British think tank and campaign group Migrant Watch previously said the high FNO population, including those released into the community “threatens the safety of families in the UK.”
