The government has begun sharing data with financial institutions so they can identify illegal immigrants and close their bank accounts to prevent them from working in the United Kingdom.
The Home Office will close the bank accounts of illegal immigrants who “demonize” asylum seekers in a fresh crackdown.
The Home Office announced on Thursday that it has begun sharing data with the financial sector so that it can refuse to establish new bank accounts for illegal immigrants and close their existing accounts.
According to the report, making it difficult for illegal migrants to access financial services is “an important tool for discouraging illegal migration” because it prevents them from working illegally and utilizing the welfare system.
Human rights organization Amnesty International UK accused the government of enforcing its “hugely damaging immigration policy” through private corporations.
Amnesty’s director of refugee and migrant rights, Steve Valdez-Symonds, told: “This is just one of the many ways the government has co-opted private organizations and civil society into its miserable and frequently incredibly destructive immigration policy.
“It is part of an exercise in socially excluding and isolating a large number of people, regardless of their circumstances. Including when human traffickers, other offenders, and even the Home Office are responsible for why people are in these circumstances.
“It is evident that ministers do not care whom they harm or how they harm them because they have sold themselves to whipping up suspicion and even hatred by continually demonizing migrants to justify their appalling mismanagement of the immigration system.”
Banks will not be required to verify the migration status of their customers’ documents. Banks can match current account holders to the Home Office’s list of unauthorised migrants.
The government added that pending immigration applications and appeals will not be affected.
This initiative is part of the government’s efforts to reduce the number of immigrants entering the United Kingdom.
Robert Jenrick, minister of immigration, stated: “Access to critical banking services. Such as current accounts, is essential for illegal immigrants to integrate into British society”.
The prime minister stated that we will go further and faster to avoid law and border infractions.
“Illegal labor causes incalculable damage to our communities, depriving honest workers of employment and defrauding the public treasury.
Only illegal immigrants or those who have evaded immigration control would have their information shared, preventing account closures.
After the Home Office verifies that the person is in the UK illegally, banks will cancel accounts.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in December 2022 that data sharing would resume to tackle illicit working and immigration.
The government announced on Wednesday that it intends to house more than 500 asylum seekers on a barge in Dorset, with the local council and a Conservative member of parliament contemplating legal action to prevent this from occurring in a scenic area.
