As residents of the Borough of Great Yarmouth, we welcome the clear and public stance taken by many of our elected representatives in opposing the Home Office’s ambitions to house primarily young men—who have crossed into the country by boat—in communities across the county, including our own.
This strong position, which has included direct legal action against the use of local hotels and an explicit refusal to allow the use of council-owned properties, clearly shows that, here in Great Yarmouth, our politicians are standing with local people.
Great Yarmouth is a proud community with a long history of welcoming immigrant populations - from Greek Cypriots and Portuguese in the 1970s and 80s to Eastern Europeans in more recent years. We are not opposed to those who come to our town to work and contribute. In fact, many large rural food firms already house migrant workers in our area. However, even those who are here legally present real challenges in maintaining community cohesion. The reality is: we are simply not in a position to take more.
By contrast, the Conservatives taken decisive action by introducing the Deportation Bill — designed to enable the automatic deportation of foreign criminals, and to deter dangerous Channel crossings. This Bill also sets out robust measures to disrupt people-smuggling networks and protect our borders. It is a key part of a wider strategy to restore control of our immigration system and ensure it works fairly for those who play by the rules.
Since the scrapping of the Rwanda scheme, we have seen a massive increase in small boat arrivals under the current Labour government, yet no clear or effective plan from them has been put forward to deal with the issue.
We therefore call on the Home Office to:
Urgently review and implement a third-party processing scheme, such as Rwanda.
Establish a clear and robust system for securely holding new arrivals while their claims are processed swiftly.
Implement the Conservative Party’s proposed deportation legislation, including the automatic deportation of all foreign criminals and those who enter the country illegally.
Identify and prioritise the prosecution of the criminal gangs responsible for organising and profiting from this illegal trade.
Our community deserves fairness, transparency, and order, and we call on the Government to act decisively to restore all three.