LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday that more than 24,000 individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK have been returned since Labour came to power — the highest figure in eight years.

Speaking at the opening of the Organized Immigration Crime (OIC) summit in London, Starmer said the record-breaking figure included four of the largest return flights ever conducted by the UK.

The prime minister also confirmed the termination of the controversial Rwanda deportation policy championed by the previous Conservative government, criticizing it as expensive and ineffective.

Starmer revealed that despite spending £700 million on the plan, only four asylum seekers had voluntarily relocated to Rwanda.

"Even if the scheme had started working properly, only about 300 people a year would have gone to Rwanda," he said, noting that it would have taken 80 years to reach the current figure of 24,000 returns.

The Rwanda deportation policy faced strong legal and political opposition after being ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court in late 2023. It was followed by the introduction of the Safety of Rwanda Bill, which sought to bypass domestic and international legal protections for asylum seekers — a move Starmer firmly rejected.

Highlighting gaps in national border security, Starmer said he was “shocked” to find disjointed coordination between the police, Border Force, and intelligence agencies upon entering office. "It should have been fixed years ago," he added. — Agencies