Sunak said in future migrants would be housed in disused holiday parks, alumni housing and surplus military sites rather than hotels, and the government expected to clear the backlog of initial asylum decisions by the end of next year.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman, the UK interior minister, recently called the recent wave of arrivals an “invasion” and described many migrants as “criminals”, prompting an angry reaction from Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Sunak said thousands of Albanians would return home in the coming months.
‘take back control’
Successive British governments have promised to stop the entry of small boats and yet the crossing continues. Concerns over immigration levels were a driving force in the 2016 referendum for Brexit, with supporters calling for the UK to “take back control” of its borders.
Sunak said the public had a “right to be angry” and said the current system was unfair on people with genuine cases for asylum.
“It is not cruel or unkind to want to break the stranglehold of criminal gangs that trade in human misery,” he said. “enough is enough.”