The final group of asylum-seekers moved out of Bibby Stockholm, a barge used to house 500 people in unsafe conditions, on 26 November 2024. Asylum-seekers have been gradually relocated from the barge since July 2024, when the government announced its decision not to renew the contract with Bibby Marine, the shipping operations company that owns Bibby Stockholm. Those whose asylum claims are still pending will be provided accommodation elsewhere in the UK. The barge is set to leave UK waters after the lease expires on 8 January 2025, after a year and a half moored in Dorset. An inquest into the death of Albanian asylum-seeker Leonard Farruku on the barge in December 2023 is scheduled to open in September 2025.

Sources: The Guardian (1), The Guardian (2), European Council on Refugees and Exiles, Home Office, International IDEA

On 3 October, the governments of the UK and Mauritius agreed to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, marking the return of the UK’s last African colony. The deal recognizes Mauritius’s sovereignty over the archipelago, while the UK retains control of the Diego Garcia island for the next 99 years to support a US military base there. The UK separated Chagos from Mauritius when the country gained independence from Britain in 1968. The UK leased the archipelago to the US, resulting in the forced expulsion of the Chagossian population between 1965 and 1973. Chagossian Voices, a community organisation, condemned its exclusion from the negotiations. The UK has committed to establishing a trust fund for the descendants of the 1,500 Chagossians exiled from the islands. The deal comes after years of legal challenges brought by Chagossians and a 2019 International Court of Justice advisory opinion calling for the return of the islands to Mauritius.  

Sources: The Conversation, Al Jazeera, BBC, UK Government, UN News

On 4 July, the United Kingdom held a general election in which 650 seats for the House of Commons, the lower parliamentary house, were contested. The Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won a majority of 411 seats with a vote share of 33.7 per cent. The Conservative Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, secured 23.7 per cent of the vote and only 121 seats, lower than in any general election since 1832, according to the House of Commons Library. The Liberal Democrats became the third largest party with 72 seats and a share of 12.2 per cent of the vote. Voter turnout was 59.8 per cent, a notable drop compared to the turnout of 67.3 per cent in the 2019 general election. A record of 263 women MPs were elected (40 per cent of total), an increase from 226 women (34.8 per cent) in the previous legislature.

Sources: House of Commons, Reuters, BBC

On 29 July, children attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance class were attacked in Southport, northern England. Three young girls were killed, and eight more children and two adults were injured. After a peaceful vigil for the victims, a violent riot broke out near the scene of the attack, resulting in injuries to nearly 40 police officers. The 17-year-old boy arrested in connection with the knife attack at the dance class was initially not named due to his age. Online dis- and misinformation circulated about the name and identity of the attacker, with some falsely claiming the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum-seeker. Riots marked by extremist violence broke out across the UK, including the vandalisation of businesses owned by ethnic and religious minorities and attacks on hotels housing migrants. The government responded with a crackdown, leading to the arrest of multiple rioters.

Sources: New York Times, The Loop, BBC, Merseyside Police, The Guardian, ECRE

On 6 July, Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed that the previous government’s scheme to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda would be scrapped. The Rwandan government published a press release on 8 July taking note of the UK government’s intention to end the bilateral pact underlying the scheme, the Migration and Economic Development Partnership Agreement. The Home Office began detaining asylum-seekers in May, but no asylum-seekers were ever forcibly relocated to Rwanda under the policy. The scheme is estimated to have cost GBP 715 million in public funds, including to grow detention capacity and train new caseworkers to process claims, as well as payments to the Rwandan government to cover operational costs for relocated individuals. The government announced the money will be redirected to a Border Security Command, launched on 7 July, to tackle smuggling networks. 

Sources: British Broadcasting Corporation, European Council on Refugees and Exiles, AP, UK Government, International IDEA, UK Government, Full Fact

On 22 April, Parliament approved a controversial bill allowing the UK government to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda for their asylum claims to be heard, even after the Supreme Court ruled the scheme to be unlawful in November 2023. Migrants who have their claims rejected are not provided recourse to return to the UK. The law compels UK courts to consider Rwanda a safe country for the purposes of relocating migrants and prevents legal challenges from delaying a person’s removal to Rwanda on the grounds that the country may be unsafe. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who spearheaded the bill, says it is designed to deter irregular migration, discourage migrants from making dangerous crossings and prevent exploitation of migrants by criminal gangs. The law has been widely criticized, including by international NGO Amnesty International, who say the legislation weakens legal protections for vulnerable people, and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, who claims it infringes on judicial independence and the ability of courts to independently scrutinize the issues brought before them. The government has indicated the scheme will be operationalized within the next 10-12 weeks.

Sources: International IDEA, Amnesty International, UN News, BBC, UK Home Office (1), UK Home Office (2), Council of Europe, UK Parliament