Highlights
- About 20,000 foreign offenders were living in the community in June 2025 despite deportation orders.
- Deportation rates for offenders from Nigeria and Jamaica were particularly low.
- Two convicted sex offenders went on to commit further offences after earlier prison sentences.
- Home Office says nearly 12,000 foreign criminals have been returned or deported since the last election.
AROUND 20,000 foreign criminals were living freely in the UK despite being subject to deportation orders, with fewer than one in 20 offenders from some countries likely to be returned, according to figures reported by the Times.
The data, covering June 2025 and released for the first time, highlights the difficulties faced by the government in removing foreign offenders from the country.
Although deportations have increased, the figures show significant differences between nationalities, with particularly low return rates for offenders from Nigeria, Jamaica and Algeria.
According to the report, there were 773 Nigerian offenders subject to deportation action but still living in the community. Government returns figures show that only 37 people were returned to Nigeria in the preceding year, equivalent to a rate of 4.8 per cent.
Similarly, 775 Jamaican offenders were awaiting deportation while living in the community, compared with just 24 returns to Jamaica during the previous year.
For Algeria, 569 offenders were living in the community, with a return rate of 4.2 per cent. The figures also suggest that only about 6 per cent of Bangladeshi offenders could expect to be returned.
The Times reported that deportation rates had risen from about 8,000 in 2020 to 36,000 in 2025 under the Labour government. However, foreign criminals accounted for less than 30 per cent of those removed from the UK.
Concerns over repeat offending
The report highlighted cases in which foreign offenders went on to commit further serious crimes after being released from prison.
Radiet Meles, an Eritrean who arrived in Britain in a lorry, was jailed for five years in 2018 for attempted rape and was told he was likely to be deported after serving his sentence.
However, he was not monitored following his release and went on to attack another woman. A jury found him guilty of rape and assault by beating in September. He is due to be sentenced this month.
Another case involved Gift Oladele, a Nigerian national who was jailed for 17 years in April for raping and sexually assaulting a young woman.
Oladele had previously been imprisoned for a sexual offence in 2022. The Home Office had sought to deport him after his first sentence, but he successfully appealed on human rights grounds. He was also on bail over a separate rape allegation when he committed the latest offences.
Political pressure over deportations
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused the government of failing to remove foreign criminals, saying only a small proportion of offenders from countries including Nigeria, Jamaica, Somalia, Algeria, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and India were returned.
He blamed legal challenges and human rights claims for preventing deportations and said the Conservatives would pursue a tougher approach, including leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The figures also come amid wider disagreements over deportation policy and Britain's relations with the European Union. The Times reported last week that Brussels was demanding that the UK abandon plans to increase the number of European criminals eligible for deportation as part of a post-Brexit reset.
Changes to British law introduced this year are intended to allow the deportation of all foreign criminals sentenced to more than 12 months in prison, including those given suspended sentences.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has also taken a tougher position on returns. She has said she would not rule out deportations to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, despite concerns raised by humanitarian organisations. Some 225 Afghans were returned in the year to June 2026.
Last month, she announced plans to block Eritreans from entering the UK unless an agreement was reached with the country to accept the return of criminals and illegal migrants.
The Home Office said anyone receiving a prison sentence in Britain was referred for deportation at the earliest opportunity and would be barred from returning.
It said nearly 12,000 foreign criminals, including murderers and rapists, had been returned or deported in the two years since the last general election, representing a 41 per cent increase on the previous two years.
