Mahmood to unveil changes to tackle illegal migration modelled on Danish system

The home secretary is due to announce sweeping changes next week aimed at making the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants and modelled on the Danish system.

Shabana Mahmood is expected to set out plans to deter migrants from coming to the UK and make it easier to deport those who do in a statement to MPs on Monday.

She is understood to have based some of the changes on the approach in Denmark, having dispatched officials to the country last month to study its border control and asylum policies.

Mahmood is also expected to be preparing changes to human rights legislation to make it easier to deport people who cross the Channel in small boats.

Changes will include requiring judges to prioritise public safety over migrants’ rights to a family life, or the risk that they will face “inhuman” treatment if returned to their home country, the Telegraph reported.

Home Office officials described Mahmood’s plans as “the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times”.

Before next week’s announcement, the Home Office announced it had removed or deported 48,560 people from the UK since Labour came to power.

The figure, which includes refused asylum seekers, foreign criminals and others with no right to be in the UK, is a 23% increase in removals compared with the 16 months before last year’s election.

Mahmood said: “Nearly 50,000 illegal migrants have been removed or deported since the election. We’ve ramped up enforcement, deported foreign criminals from our streets, and saved taxpayers millions.

“I pledge today to scale up the removal and deportations of illegal migrants and do whatever it takes to secure our borders.”

The government has also sent about 100 people back to France under the “one in, one out” returns deal for those who cross the Channel in small boats.

But, despite the removals, small boat crossings continue to be a major political headache for the government.

So far, 39,075 people have made the journey this year, according to PA news agency analysis of Home Office figures.

The figure is up 19% on the same point in 2024 and up 43% on 2023, but remains 5% lower than the equivalent point in 2022, the peak year for crossings.

On Monday, the Home Office confirmed a second man had re-entered the UK by small boat having been returned to France under the “one in, one out” deal.

The government said he would be deported back to France shortly and insisted his immediate detection and detention showed the system was working.

Denmark’s tighter rules on family reunions and restricting some refugees to a temporary stay are among the policies being looked at.

Some research has suggested that deterrence policies have little impact on asylum seekers’ choice of destination, but a 2017 study said Denmark’s “negative nation branding” had proved effective in limiting asylum applications.