Fury as 170 dangerous terrorists can’t be booted out of UK | Politics | News

Dozens of extremists deemed a threat to national security are being monitored 24/7 because human rights laws prevent them from being deported, the Sunday Express has revealed.

The Home Office sparked outrage after admitting that around 170 foreign nationals were living under restrictions in the UK because they were deemed dangerous but could not be deported. And more than half were “involved in terrorism”
or extremism-related activities” may reveal this newspaper.

The shocking revelations have sparked calls to radically overhaul human rights laws and leave the European Convention on Human Rights; critics branded it a “criminals’ charter for the worst people in our society”.

A Home Office minister admitted it was “disgraceful” that terrorists could remain and said the tough laws, which received Royal Assent last week, would allow police, security services and Immigration Enforcement teams to track their “every move through electronic surveillance” as Labor seeks to deport them “quickly”.

The Government Equality Impact Assessment published last week as part of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill found: “Provisions relating to the application of conditions on immigration clearance where a foreign national poses a threat to the public but cannot be removed from the UK may be more likely to affect certain age groups.

“About 170 people are currently on limited leave and more than half
Being involved in activities related to terrorism or extremism.”

Restrictions typically imposed on terrorists include having to live at a specific address, curfew, wearing an ankle monitor, internet bans, and limits on using mobile phones. They will also be banned from working or studying in the UK.

It is unclear how many of the 170 foreign nationals on restricted leave face such requirements.

But Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood announced an overhaul of human rights laws to limit the right of asylum seekers, foreign criminals and immigration offenders to claim the right to family life to avoid deportation. Under the new Home Office plans, family will be defined as “parents and their children”.

Judges, meanwhile, will be ordered to prioritize public safety and immigration controls over the right to family life, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Labor has also insisted that the UK – along with its European allies – will seek to renegotiate Article 3, the right to be free from persecution and torture, amid fears it is being abused. Many people believe that this is the main obstacle in many deportations.

The Border Security Bill includes a provision that permanently prohibits national security threats from ever being resolved.

It also allows for wider use of electronic tagging and the introduction of curfews for people with limited permits.

Previously, only those released on immigration bail could face such restrictions.

But the facts revealed by the Sunday Express have led to calls for much more radical action.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “At our mass deportation press conference in August we announced that we would leave the ECHR and not implement the 1951 Refugee Convention, the UN Convention Against Torture and the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Persons. At the time Reform and I were condemned for even suggesting this. If this government had the backbone to do it, things like this would not have happened.”

He said the Labor government was filled to the brim with woke human rights lawyers who “prioritised a foreign court in Strasbourg over the safety of the British people”.

The Conservatives have also vowed to leave the ECHR if they win the next election, but a report by Shadow Attorney-General Lord Wolfson ruled out leaving the Refugee Convention.

He argued that the UK could impose much tougher immigration policies and deport foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers and immigration offenders without breaching the 1951 Convention.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Our broken borders are a national security emergency. We must leave the ECHR and deport every single one of these terrorists and extremists.”

“This government has no idea how bad the problem is and how to solve it.”

Former Home Secretary and Attorney General Suella Braverman said: “Human rights laws give a clear target for Britain’s enemies to exploit.

“The British people will not be safe until we leave the ECHR. This has become a criminal’s charter for the worst people in our society.”

“The only way to keep this country safe is to leave the ECHR and scrap the Human Rights Act so politicians can finally put the British people first. Failure to protect our own borders is a national humiliation, but shamefully this government is too busy scrapping jury trials to care.”

More than 50,000 failed asylum seekers, alien criminals and other immigration offenders have been deported from the UK since July last year, the Home Office said.

Border Security and Asylum Minister Alex Norris said: “It’s a shame that terrorists were able to stay in the UK under previous rules. Our new laws will impose tough restrictions on foreign nationals who pose a threat, tracking their every move.”

“These laws will also allow us to ensure the rapid deportation of terrorists from British soil and keep our country safe.”