Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Bas Javid: My background helps bring compassion to tackling illegal immigration

Javid was appointed director general for immigration enforcement at the Home Office in November last year

Bas Javid: My background helps bring compassion to tackling illegal immigration

BAS JAVID, who has been tasked with policing illegal immigration, has said his immigrant background enables him to bring compassion to the role.

Javid was appointed director general for immigration enforcement at the Home Office in November last year. With a budget exceeding £779 million and a staff of more than 6,200, the department will target criminal gangs that facilitate illegal immigration and apprehending individuals who are in the country unlawfully.


His role will deal with individuals involved in illegal immigration who are criminals as well as those subjected to modern-day slavery, exploitation, or poor working conditions.

Javid emphasised the importance of approaching his role with compassion.

In an interview with The Telegraph, he said, “I think my coming from an immigrant background and family of immigrants, with personal experiences of racism and bias, enables me to come from a place of compassion in this job.

“I don’t know if any previous director of immigration enforcement has been from a minority ethnic background or had parents who came to the UK from another country.

“But when I talk about compassion, that means the ability to understand people’s concerns or plight or circumstances. I think anyone can have this mindset, but coming from a migration background myself maybe it’s more automatic."

Javid hails from an immigrant family. His father, Abdul Ghani-Javid, was 17 when he arrived in the UK from Pakistan in 1961.

Settling in Rochdale, he initially toiled in cotton mills before becoming a bus driver.

Along with wife, Zubaid, they raised five sons: Sajid (former chancellor Sajid Javid) and Bas (short for Basit), along with Tariq, Atif, and Khalid. Tariq, sadly, died in 2018, while Atif works as a property developer in Bristol, and Khalid is employed in financial services, the report said.

Javid, 51, who has more than three decades experience in policing, told the paper, “I don’t make the laws. I’m here to make sure we enforce them.'"

He spoke about overhauling immigration enforcement, highlighting the government's new legislation to plug gaps, resulting in the expulsion of illegal residents, particularly those with criminal records, from the UK.

"There’s a huge distinction between someone who is legally or illegally in the UK. I think my friends and family are proud of the fact that I perform a public service, as am I," he was quoted as saying.

He added, “This isn’t just about individual immigration offenders, we’re targeting the organised crime groups of people smugglers, to disrupt their activity and dismantle their criminal networks. I’ve been amazed by the lengths these people smugglers will go to, to turn a profit – hiding migrants in sofas, car dashboards, makeshift coffin-like compartments in vans.

"We see people who have been smuggled here, people who believed they would have a better life, but are living in squalid conditions.”

According to reports, 29,437 people crossed the channel illegally last year. More than 1,000 migrants have made it across so far this year, including 358 in eight boats on January 17 alone.

Javid said, “Ultimately from an operational perspective I’m engaged in tackling the organised immigration crime that sits around people smuggling. Crossing the channel on a small boat is a very dangerous thing to do. People get exploited into doing it. They get charged high sums of money. It’s a vile trade.

"Working with the National Crime Agency and other law enforcement agencies, not least our counterparts in France, I think it’s absolutely the right thing to do to toughen legislation to cause a disincentive for people to do it. Anything in our toolbox that is a legitimate way of having a deterrent to the gangs that promote this criminality is the right thing to do.”

Javid served in the Royal Navy from March 1988 as a helicopter engineer and took part in Operation Desert Storm.

He joined Avon and Somerset Police in November 1993. His career progressed to the Metropolitan Police, becoming commander for frontline policing in London and later deputy assistant commissioner from March 2021 to November 2023.

Javid is single, but has two adult children from a previous relationship, the report said. His other interests include motorcycling, aviation, exercise and cooking.

More For You

modi putin

Before their formal meeting, Putin offered Modi a ride in his Aurus limousine.

X/@narendramodi

Six key takeaways from the SCO summit

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi met Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China.

Modi pressed for ending the Ukraine conflict at the earliest, reaffirmed India’s long-standing ties with Russia, and discussed trade and border issues with Xi.

Keep ReadingShow less
Afghanistan earthquake

Afghan volunteers and Taliban security personnel carry an earthquake victim evacuated by a military helicopter from the Nurgal district of Kunar province onn September 1, 2025.

Getty Images

Afghanistan earthquake kills more than 800, thousands injured

A MAJOR rescue operation was underway in Afghanistan on Monday after a powerful earthquake and several aftershocks destroyed homes in a remote mountainous region, killing more than 800 people, according to Taliban authorities.

The quake struck just before midnight and was felt as far as Kabul and in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ganpati festival

The Ganpati festival celebrates Ganesha as the god of new beginnings, and the god of wisdom and intelligence. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Hindu community centre in London damaged in fire after Ganapati Visarjan event

A HINDU community centre in east London caught fire on Saturday evening, causing major damage to the building. The London Fire Brigade brought the fire under control and confirmed that no injuries were reported.

The incident took place at the Shree Sorathia Prajapati Community Centre on Cleveland Road in Ilford, which had been decorated for a Ganapati Visarjan event attended by members of the Hindu community.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi ,Xi & Putin

Narendra Modi talks with Vladimir Putin and Xi jinping ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Centre in Tianjin on September 1, 2025.

Getty Images

SCO declaration slams Pahalgam attack, calls for united action on terror

Highlights:

  • SCO condemns terror attack in Pahalgam and echoes India’s stance on “double standards”.
  • Leaders call for justice for perpetrators of attacks in Pahalgam and Balochistan.
  • Declaration criticises Israeli military strikes in Gaza causing civilian casualties.
  • SCO stresses UN’s central role in global counter-terrorism strategy.

THE SHANGHAI Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Monday condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam and agreed with India’s position that “double standards” in tackling terrorism are not acceptable.

Keep ReadingShow less
Police arrest five after anti-asylum protesters target Heathrow hotel

Anti-migrant protesters demonstrate outside the Cladhan Hotel on August 30, 2025 in Falkirk, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Police arrest five after anti-asylum protesters target Heathrow hotel

BRITISH police said they arrested five people on Saturday (30) after masked men tried to force their way into a hotel used by asylum-seekers, a day after the government won a court ruling on the use of another hotel to house migrants.

Two groups of anti-asylum protesters marched to the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Heathrow Airport before some demonstrators tried to break in, London's Metropolitan Police force said.

Keep ReadingShow less