Robert Jenrick has said he would cut off aid from countries that do not take back people who fail in their asylum claims, as part of a package of measures designed to bolster his anti-immigration reputation in the final stages of the Tory leadership race.
The former immigration minister said he would withdraw money and visas from countries which do not accept those who are rejected by the UK as part of a plan to increase the number of people being deported by 100,000 a year. The plan would also see asylum seekers from at least three new countries barred altogether.
The announcement comes days before Tory members gather in Birmingham for the party’s annual conference, at which Jenrick and his fellow leadership contenders will give speeches and answer questions in what is likely to be a key moment in the race.
Jenrick said in a statement: “Illegal migration is placing intolerable pressure on our communities and the taxpayer. While the number of people here illegally has ballooned over the last 20 years, deportations have plummeted.
“The government must stop other countries exploiting our generosity by imposing severe visa restrictions and restricting foreign aid to countries that do not take back their nationals here illegally.”
Referring to a previous pledge to pull the country out of the European convention on human rights, he said: “We must leave the ECHR so we can deport dangerous foreign criminals. And we must declare countries like Turkey, Brazil and Vietnam safe in law – these are holiday destinations, not war-torn hell-holes.”
Jenrick has spent much of the campaign burnishing his credentials as being tough on immigration, one of the issues that is likely to decide the race.
He quit his job as immigration minister at the end of last year, arguing that Rishi Sunak’s legislation to enact the Rwanda deportation scheme would not work. The scheme never began, and has now been cancelled by Labour.
Jenrick said he would push countries to take more returns by threatening to take away aid money and restrict visas. In a briefing note, his team singled out Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and Ethiopia as failing to take back enough of their citizens whose applications for asylum in the UK have been rejected.
Meanwhile, at least three new countries – Brazil, Vietnam and Turkey – would be added to the list of those officially determined as safe, meaning that anyone claiming asylum from there will be automatically rejected.
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Other parts of the package include increasing funding for immigration enforcement to crack down on illegal employment, and clamping down on companies that allow irregular migrants to work for them illegally in the gig economy.
Jenrick is one of four Tory MPs who will make their case to party members next week across three days of speeches and question-and-answer sessions. Earlier this month he emerged top of a ballot of Conservative MPs, making it likely that he will be one of the final two candidates selected by a vote of the Tory membership next month.