Foreign criminals not deported

Figures have shown that nine out of ten overseas criminals who should have been deported are still in the UK. The number of foreign criminals successfully removed last year fell by a fifth. Whilst waiting to be deported some of these criminals committed rape, kidnapping, and murder.

Damien Green, the immigration minister, gave a statement in the House of Commons yesterday where he said that the judiciary was at fault.

Answering an emergency question about the number of foreign criminals not currently detained, Mr Green gave this information:

• There are 3,940 foreign criminals awaiting deportation who are not currently being detained;
• That figure has increased by 500 since May;
• Foreign criminals released from custody have committed two murders, three   kidnappings, 14 sexual offences, and 27 other violent crimes.

Mr Green said that 90% of these criminals were released by immigration judges, not by the Home Office. He said:

Of the 90% of people who have been released by the courts, 60% were released under human rights legislation. We will change the immigration laws to stop the abuse of article 8 of the European convention on human rights.

Article 8 takes a lot of flack from politicians, and is increasingly the focus of the argument about Human Rights. But if the government is detaining people who it is not deporting within a reasonable time, they are not released on “private and family life” grounds.

They are released because the government shouldn’t imprison people without due cause. And in the case of deportation, once it becomes clear that the government will not be deporting within a reasonable time, they have to be released.

And cases that are brought under Article 8 are done so on the basis that people are innocent until proven guilty. If the government were to lock people up on the basis that they might commit a crime that would be sinister. His complaint about Article 8 seems to be at odds with the presumption of innocence.

People with families here have that balanced against the possibility that they will not be safe to have in the country. If Mr Green is so convinced that this is a simple judicial problem, surely his :

And he made some loud noises about the judiciary:

We want to send much clearer guidance to our judges, so that they know where the balance should lie between the rights of the individual and the rights of the community, because that balance has got completely out of kilter.

But it is not the place of politicians to give guidance to judges. They can legislate, and the judges will implement that legislation – as they are doing now. But guidance sounds like interference to me.

This was a lot of political hot air to distract from a media problem. The government is not on target to reduce net immigration; there are people coming into the country unchecked who pose a clear threat. Blaming the judiciary might provide a useful soundbite, but it will not solve the political problem.