The British government has announced that it has deported almost 13,500 illegal migrants since it came to power in July - the highest number in five years.
It is part of a multi-pronged approach aimed at cutting the number of irregular migrants making the dangerous small boat crossings from France.
The UK may have far fewer asylum seekers and economic migrants than many other European countries, but it remains a hot and divisive political issue.
One of the Labour Party's election pledges was to deport more illegal migrants in its first six months in power than since 2018. With 13,460 deportations, it has almost achieved that number with less than a month to go.
It's believed that more than 25 flights have taken place since July, including to Brazil, Pakistan, Vietnam, Nigeria and Ghana, as well as European countries like Albania and Romania.
Rwanda scheme stopped
According to the Guardian newspaper, most went voluntarily but the number of enforced returns rose by 25 percent compared with the same period in 2023.
But the key issue of halting the small boat crossings from France remains elusive as numbers continue to rise. So far this year 34,000 people made the dangerous crossing to Britain, a 19 percent increase over the same period in 2023. A total of 609 people arrived in a single day on December 12, the highest December number ever.
One of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's first acts on coming to power was to cancel the controversial Rwanda scheme in which the previous government planned to send refugees to Rwanda to have their claims processed.
Instead the government is going after the people smuggling gangs and has created a new 'Border Security Command' with enhanced powers to trace suspected human traffickers and shut down their bank accounts.
There were big protests across the UK over the previous government's policy for deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda. /Toby Melville/Reuters
Britain is also part of the so called Calais Group, involving France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, as well as the UK which is working on coordinated plans to tackle the smuggling gangs.
On Saturday Britain's Home Secretary (Interior Minister) Yvette Cooper visited Rome to meet her counterpart, Italian interior minister Matteo Piantedosi, to discuss ways to tackle people-smuggling gangs.
Last month Cooper went to Iraq, including the Kurdish region where some people-smuggling gangs operate, offering financial help to counter the traffickers.
She has also announced a crackdown on illegal workers, with immigration officers raiding nail bars, convenience stores and building sites in November arresting around 150 people of various nationalities
But Cooper has declined to give a timetable to cut the boat crossings - an indication of just how difficult a task this will be.
On a separate issue the government has announced it is suspending Syrian asylum claims following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. More than 30,000 Syrians were granted asylum to the UK since the start of the civil war, but around 6,500 claims remain to be processed.
The government says it must now assess whether Syria is a safe country for them to return to and that no-one will be deported until the review is completed.