Footage shows foreign criminals flown from the UK with cash-loaded cards on costly deportation flight

A group of foreign national offenders were flown out of the United Kingdom on a deportation flight, with ITV News documenting the operation from a deportation centre near Heathrow. The flight carried 47 people, most of them men with several women among them, in what officials described as a routine but high-security removal operation that required nearly 100 staff and has been described as costly for taxpayers.

Criminals who had come to the UK legally but forfeited their right to remain after committing serious crimes—ranging from murder to theft and sexual offences—were returned to Romania after serving portions of their prison sentences. Those on the flight were handed bank cards pre-loaded with up to £2,000 as part of the Facilitated Return Scheme, an incentive intended to encourage voluntary removal. The cards were meant to be used to assist resettlement after arrival in Romania. ITV filmed parts of the journey, including the moment the group was questioned while at a deportation centre near Heathrow.

The operation underscores the scale and secrecy often surrounding removals. Journalists embedded with the operation reported that several deportees were resistant to speaking about their crimes, with one individual declining to name the offense when asked by the reporter and another saying he had lived in the UK for a decade.

In total, the Home Office has said that deportation flights to various destinations leave Britain on a regular basis, with roughly 5,000 foreign national offenders (FNOs) sent home last year and more than 10,000 inmates in the country’s overcrowded jails being foreigners. The flights are timed to minimize disruption from protests, and each FNO is typically accompanied by three staff, with the most violent cases requiring up to six and sometimes involving a dedicated van to the airport. The Home Office did not disclose which airline operated the flight or which airport the plane departed from.

Three migrants who were meant to be onboard avoided the flight by mounting legal challenges, illustrating the ongoing tension between removal efforts and legal avenues to contest deportation.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood acknowledged that the sight of criminals receiving £2,000 in taxpayer funds “doesn't look good,” but defended the policy as a cheaper option for the taxpayer because voluntary removal reduces overall costs. She said, “A voluntary removal is actually cheaper for the British taxpayer. It has long been the case that we do offer financial packages as an incentive to people to drop their claims and drop the attempts they make to stay in our country, and to board a flight and leave.” Mahmood has also pledged to expand removals under the border-security agenda and indicated that cross-Channel removals to France would be ramped up under the one-in, one-out scheme that seeks to remove those who crossed the Channel by returning others from France to Britain, with the aim of increasing the flow of removals.

The remarks come as lawmakers and researchers note a widening backlog of foreign criminals who have not yet been deported. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp compiled government data showing significant disparities in removal rates across nationalities. Eritrean prisoners, for example, number 145 in the UK, but only two were removed in the 12 months to June, which would imply about 73 years to deport them all at current rates. Similar gaps appear for Iranian inmates (279 prisoners, six removed last year, about 47 years) and Jamaican prisoners (338 on record, 23 removed in the year to June, about 15 years). Somali prisoners number 78?—and would take roughly 22 years to remove at current rates. Analysts caution that the official removal pace is likely to be even slower when accounting for legal challenges and administrative delays. The figures and projections were obtained by the Daily Mail in exclusive analysis.

As the government pushes to press ahead with removals, officials emphasize the need to maintain border control and deter illicit crossings, while supporters argue that swift expulsions free up space in a strained prison system and allow communities to focus on lawful immigration processes. Critics warn that protracted removal timelines for certain nationalities can undermine public confidence in the system, even as authorities stress the operational readiness of ongoing flights and new measures slated to increase removal numbers in the weeks ahead.