Hotel Sanctuary: outlets to combat irregular migration.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

With your permission, I would like to make a statement on illegal migration.

The government has made it a top priority to stop refugees crossing by boat.

Because these crossings are not only illegal, dangerous and unnecessary, but also grossly unfair.

They are unfair to those who really need to be resettled because our options are limited to people, predominantly young men, coming to the UK directly from the safe haven of France.

But above all, they are unfair to the British public who are facing the real consequences of illegal''migration in the form of long waiting lists for housing, strained public services and serious problems of harmonization in communities.

It is in the interests of the British public that we have a duty to promote our interests.

Strengthening measures to tackle illegal migration.

Madam Deputy Speaker, we have developed some of the most comprehensive and robust plans to tackle irregular migration in Europe, and over the last year the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and I have focused on implementing them.

This starts by tackling smuggling gangs on their territory long before they can reach the UK.

We have already doubled funding for the work of the National Agency for Combating Organized''immigration crime, and at the European Policy Community meeting earlier this month, the Prime Minister announced new individual initiatives with Belgium, Bulgaria and Serbia that complement the enhanced strategic partnerships we have already agreed this year with Italy and Turkey.

Our two agreements with the French government have taken our cooperation to a new level.

This has weakened the activities of organized crime groups, and in the last few weeks new physical barriers have been erected to make it harder to launch these fragile boats.

And as we increase measures overseas, we are rebuilding deterrence on the ground.

We have increased the number of deportations of those,'''law by more than two-thirds compared to last year.

This has led to a doubling of fines imposed on employers and a tripling of fines issued to landlords.

But for those who facilitate the smugglers' business model, stiff financial penalties are not enough.

This is why we have significantly increased the number of company directors who have been barred from office because of illegal activity.

Our joint efforts at home and abroad are producing results.

Success in stopping boat crossings

For the first time since small boat crossings began four years ago, arrivals are down by a fifth from the same period in 2022, and in recent months we've''ships.

As the success of our return agreement with Albania has shown, coping is an effective means of reducing the number of irregular migrants seeking to enter the UK.

Stopping the use of hotels for refugees

The real impact of irregular migration on our communities has been raised many times in this House.

And one of the most devastating manifestations of this problem has been the use of hotels to meet our legal obligations to provide accommodation for those who arrive illegally and would otherwise be in need.

From the moment the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and I took office a year ago, we were clear that this was totally unacceptable and must''UK countries.

The first 50 such evictions will begin in the coming days and will be completed by the end of January, with more to follow.

But we won't stop there.

We will continue to implement our strategy to stop the boat crossing and we will be able to evict more hotel complexes.

As we evict these hotels, we will create dedicated resources to organize to manage this process decently and effectively and limit the impact on local communities.

Closure

Madam Deputy Speaker, we have made clear promises to the British public that we will stop boat crossings.

Not because it will be easy, but because it was - and remains -''the right decision.

We are making significant progress.

And our commitment to this task remains unchanged.

We will continue to act on behalf of the law-abiding majority who expect and deserve border security.

I recommend this statement for consideration by the House.