Last week, the launch of a pilot scheme aimed at encouraging illegal immigrants to leave the UK on their own volition, kicked off. Campaigns included mobile billboards, leaflets and local newspaper ads within six Greater London boroughs. “We are making it more difficult for people to live and work in the UK illegally. Every single day our enforcement officers are arresting, detaining and removing people with no right to be in the UK. But there is an alternative to being led away in handcuffs. Help and advice can be provided to those who co-operate and return home voluntarily" Immigration Minister Mark Harper explained. He further said "The Immigration Bill being introduced later this year will build on this work by restricting illegal migrants’ access to benefits and services.” Illegal immigrants are urged to text a number to get advice on returning home voluntarily to avoid arrest. The message in full reads: “In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest.” A hotline number is also shown where illegal immigrants may receive help and advice with travel documents. Leaflets and posters are being distributed in the billboard vans in the targeted boroughs.
The new measures have triggered a series of debates with many seeing it as “intimidation” from the government. Ex-Minister Sarah Teather attacked the Home Office, decrying the measures as “nothing less than straightforward intimidation.” she further said “I fear that the only impact of this deeply divisive form of politics will be to create tension and mistrust to anyone who looks and sounds foreign,” she told The Guardian. The billboard vans are cruising some of London’s more diverse boroughs, chosen because they have a below average number of voluntary returns according to the Home Office. Describing the scheme as “not helpful”, Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council stressed that there would be backlash that could result in illegal immigrants resorting to criminality. The labour Councillor went on to draw a comparison with the 1950s wave of immigration, during which notices declaring, “No Blacks, No Irish and No dogs” were commonplace.
But the Press Release shunned out by The Home Office states: "Voluntary returns are the most cost-effective way of removing illegal immigrants and save the taxpayer money. This pilot builds on the government’s current work on voluntary returns, which saw more than 28,000 voluntary departures last year. The areas were chosen because they have either significantly higher or below average numbers of voluntary returns, meaning that the success of the pilot can be assessed. Material has also been distributed in areas where illegal migrants are known to frequent, including newsagents, money transfer shops and internet cafes. The pilot follows the launch of three consultations earlier this month which are looking to regulate illegal migrant access to public services and the right to live and work in the UK. Forming part of the new Immigration Bill, these proposals include regulating temporary migrants’ access to the NHS, requiring landlords to check the immigration status of tenants and tougher civil penalties for rogue employers that continue to exploit illegal immigrants."
