London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

UK ramps up mosque visits in immigration crackdown

UK ramps up mosque visits in immigration crackdown

Immigration officials in the UK have ramped up visits to religious centers in an effort to crack down on illegal migration, The Independent reported.

As part of the “hostile environment” strategy, launched in 2012 under former home secretary Theresa May, authorities have overseen a four-fold increase in visits to mosques, temples and churches since 2019 with the aim of targeting illegal immigrants.

The strategy was launched to make staying in the UK illegally as difficult as possible, with the government encouraging people to leave the country voluntarily.

In at least three cases this year, immigration authorities — the Home Office’s National Community Engagement Team — directly escorted people from religious sites to airports and aboard flights leaving the country.

The department carried out more than 400 visits to religious centers over the past three years, targeting illegal migrants and failed asylum-seekers.

A freedom of information request by The Independent shows the dramatic increase in the number of visits each year.

In 2019, 46 took place, compared with 167 in 2021. From January to July this year, 137 visits had already been carried out, suggesting that the end-of-year figures could represent a record high.

Home Office guidelines on the visits say: “Some communities, as well as faith communities, may be unwilling to assist police/immigration in carrying out operations. Reasonable steps must be taken to seek advice from the communities concerned.

“You must ensure and provide evidence that all other avenues of investigation have been exhausted. Scheduling a religious premises operation should be the last resort.

“This sensitive type of operation will involve large numbers of police officers, intelligence officers and, in some instances, offenders.

“Operations at religious premises must be authorized at deputy director level and the minister for immigration must be informed. Such sensitive cases may require the home secretary to be informed.”

Policy adviser for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants Mary Atkinson criticized the practice.

“Immigration enforcement has no place in faith spaces — the government must immediately stop running these workshops and scrap the hostile environment so that everybody can access essential public services,” she said.

“Faith spaces of all kinds are essential places for reflection, community and spirituality.

“They are often even more important for migrants who, because of this government’s anti-migrant obsession, face discrimination and are barred from the most essential services.

“That’s why it’s so shocking to see the Home Office breaching the sanctity of these spaces and using them to pursue worshippers.”

Shakila Taranum Maan, of domestic abuse charity Southall Black Sisters, said: “Many of our clients are being duped and misinformed about what these surgeries are for.

“We’ve spoken to people who thought they were going along to get help, but instead they are being advised it’s better to leave the UK and they’re told, ‘this is how much you’ll be given.’

“The Home Office officials aren’t identified clearly enough, so people are giving out all their personal information, not knowing who they are giving these details to.

“Our clients feel this is a violation of the grounds of worship — people go there because they are in turmoil, to search and look for peace. People often go there for food at the community kitchen.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our community engagement surgeries allow people to seek information from immigration officials on their stay in the UK or receive practical support to return home voluntarily.

“These surgeries are conducted with the permission of community leaders, and are held in conjunction with faith-based and community locations in order to have conversations with individuals without the fear of arrest.

“These are clearly advertised as government-run, and officials identify themselves as being government employees.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
×