Foreign Criminals to Be Deported and Banned Instead of Jailed to Free Up Prison Spaces

Instead of Incarceration, Foreign Criminals to Face Deportation and Banishment to Ease Prison Overcrowding

February 26, 2024 TruthUSA

Lower-level criminals such as drug dealers, shoplifters, and thieves will receive ‘conditional cautions’ instead of being convicted and sentenced to prison.

Lower-level foreign offenders will be deported and prohibited from re-entering the UK rather than being incarcerated, in a move that aims to free up prison spaces, as announced by the justice secretary.

Under new plans introduced by Justice Secretary Alex Chalk on Sunday, drug dealers, shoplifters, and thieves will be given “conditional cautions” instead of facing convictions. These measures are designed to reduce the number of prisoners who have been charged and are currently in custody in the UK.

Speaking to The Telegraph during a visit to HMP Liverpool, Mr. Chalk stated, “There is a provision in certain lower-level cases, where instead of prosecution, the Home Office opts for deportation.”

He added, “There are cases where it is necessary to go through the criminal justice process to ensure proper punishment, but in other cases, it may be in the public interest to simply remove the individual from the country.”

The reforms, initially announced by Mr. Chalk in October 2023, will also enable authorities to expedite the deportation of foreign criminals who are nearing the end of their sentences.

Prison Transfer With Albania, Poland, Romania

In May 2023, the government announced new arrangements on prisoner transfers with Albania, resulting in 200 Albanian prisoners being sent home to serve their sentences.

Mr. Chalk also disclosed on Sunday that negotiations had been initiated to establish similar arrangements for the deportation of dangerous prisoners from Poland and Romania to serve their sentences in their respective home countries.

According to prison population statistics up to December 31, 2023, there were 10,423 foreign nationals incarcerated, representing 12 percent of the total prison population in England and Wales.

The most prevalent nationalities among foreign prisoners are Albanian (13 percent), Polish (9 percent), and Romanian (7 percent).

In July, former head of the National Crime Agency’s Drugs Threat and Intelligence department Tony Saggers informed The Epoch Times that Albanian organized crime groups dominate the UK’s cocaine distribution networks.

The United Nations cautioned last year that Albanian criminals exert excessive control over the UK’s drug trade and have the capability to transport significant quantities of illegal substances through southeastern England ports, establishing operations in various European cities using the Albanian diaspora.

Criminals Fighting Deportation

Mr. Chalk acknowledged that foreign criminals often resist deportation, citing human rights concerns. He stated, “Some refuse to leave British soil or prisons, claiming ties to the country, such as having children here, among other reasons.”

Recently, a Serbian national convicted for operating a cannabis farm successfully appealed against deportation on human rights grounds, arguing that he had forgotten the language and could not reintegrate.

The Home Office had sought to deport Clirim Kukaj, an ethnic Albanian who arrived clandestinely in the UK at the age of 13 in 2007.

The court learned that Kukaj dropped out of school at the age of 8 due to persistent bullying and stopped using the Serbian language.

Immigration tribunal judge Fiona Lindsley reasoned in her ruling that “the finding that the claimant no longer speaks Serbian is well-supported, particularly as it was entirely reasonable for the higher tribunal to find that the claimant, who comes from an ethnically Albanian and Albanian-speaking family, ceased engaging with the Serbian language at the age of eight years.”

Almost 12,000 Foreign Criminals Released Into the Community

Foreign nationals serving prison sentences of 12 months or longer are subject to mandatory deportation under UK law.

In October 2023, it was disclosed that 11,769 foreign national offenders had been released from prison and reintegrated into society, despite having deportation orders in place. This figure included over 3,700 individuals who had remained in the UK for five years or more after their release from prison.

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