UK’s First Charter Return Flight to Timor-Leste and Vietnam Underlines Immigration Policy Shift.
The UK has launched its first charter return flight to Timor-Leste, marking the first such flight to Vietnam since 2022. This operation comes on the heels of the Home Secretary’s announcement this week to replace flight plans for Rwanda with flights aimed at returning foreign criminals and immigration offenders without the right to remain in the UK.
The flight took off on Wednesday, July 24, and arrived in Timor-Leste around 9 a.m. BST on July 25. It transported a group of individuals from the UK to the two Southeast Asian countries.
This operation demonstrates the government’s commitment to enhancing its ability to return individuals who do not have the right to stay in the UK. It also aims to strengthen partnerships with countries to combat irregular migration. Notably, Vietnam has recently seen a significant number of its nationals crossing the Channel in small boats.
The flight coincided with the sentencing of a group of British people-smugglers, including a brother and sister, who attempted to hide two Vietnamese migrants in a secret compartment of their campervan.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper emphasized that the flight signifies the government’s prompt action to secure borders and return those without the right to remain in the UK. She expressed gratitude to the governments of Vietnam and Timor-Leste for their cooperation, which was essential for the flight’s success. Cooper noted that strong diplomatic ties are crucial for restoring order to the asylum and immigration system and ensuring immigration rules are respected.
Images from the recent court case depicted the migrants cramped in a dangerously small crawlspace, measuring less than one foot high, while being transported between the UK and France.
Siblings Natalie Sirrell and Alan Sirrell, along with Casey Dennis Loughnane and Charlotte Smyth, were sentenced after a hearing at Canterbury Crown Court. The court heard that on July 19, 2020, Border Force officers discovered two Vietnamese nationals concealed beneath a bed in a campervan bound for the UK in Coquelles, France. Natalie Sirrell was driving the van, with Charlotte Smyth in the passenger seat. Both were arrested at the scene.
Investigators later identified Alan Sirrell, Loughnane, and Benjamin Tokeley as additional members of the smuggling operation. Alan Sirrell received a sentence of three and a half years, while Loughnane was sentenced to four and a half years for conspiring to breach UK immigration laws.
Natalie Sirrell was given a two-year suspended sentence, electronic monitoring, and a £500 fine. Smyth also received a two-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to the same offense. The judge considered the time taken to reach court and the early pleas from both Natalie Sirrell and Smyth in their sentencing.
Tokeley pleaded guilty at a previous hearing and is set to be sentenced separately at a later date.
Stuart Wilkinson, the Home Office Criminal and Financial Investigation Lead for the North East Command, stated that the sentencing is a result of strong collaboration among agencies to bring another people-smuggling ring to justice. He reaffirmed that efforts to secure the UK’s borders and combat gangs that endanger vulnerable individuals for profit will continue. Wilkinson praised the dedication of the officers involved in the case.