Starmer hails deal intended to fast-track deportations to Vietnam

Vietnamese people who arrive in Britain by irregular means will be fast-tracked for deportation under a new agreement, Downing Street has said.

- Rajeev Syal

After a surge in clandestine arrivals from the southeast Asian country last year via small boats and in the back of lorries, the deal is supposed to cut tape and make it faster and easier to return those with no right to be in the UK.

Vietnamese people were the largest single small boat arrivals cohort in the first three months of 2024, and the fourth largest across the whole of last year.

Statistics from April 2024 showed Vietnamese nationals made up 20% of all small-boat arrivals, a 10-fold increase compared to the same period in the previous year.

Home Office data also shows that 599 Vietnamese people were referred to the national referral mechanism as potential modern slavery victims between April and June this year - the second highest foreign nationality after Eritreans.