The UK Deportations and Removals Monitor documents people who have been removed or deported from the UK using information from a variety of sources. Much of this information is available online or is obtainable through FOI requests, but is provided as large tables of data which are hard to understand and do not allow for easy comparison. A key part of the DMN methodology is linking information from these multiple sources in order to have a fuller picture of UK removals than what is provided by the individual sources separately. The DMN Uwazi database then allows anyone to view the information in an accessible format and filter it according to their needs.
The information recorded in the database comes from these sources:
- Home Office datasets
- Home Office website
- Freedom of Information Requests
- Flight records
- Media and Social Media
- Reports from organisations and individuals
The UK Deportations and Removals Monitor was developed by AMERA International. The UKDRM started in January 2023 and will end in June 2024. It is the UK-based pilot project of the Deportation Monitoring Network (DMN). The network had identified the need to develop a methodology for systematic monitoring of immigration removals and removal outcomes monitoring and identified the UK as a suitable location for a pilot. Due to AMERA International closing in June 2024, we were only able to monitor removals from the UK and were not able to document the outcomes for the individuals removed.
The database is set up so that further information can be added and linked to the existing data. This includes ongoing reports of removals from the community and organisations, as well as documenting what happens to people after they have been removed. Our hope is that this database can be used as a starting point for systematic, collaborative removals monitoring.
As the UKDRM was a pilot project, we documented our internal processes so that the methodology could be replicated or adapted for future monitoring projects, whether in the UK or abroad. We have created template monitoring documents and detailed instructions designed for monitoring UK removals so that another organisation could easily continue the project after AMERA International’s closure. As we only monitored removals from the UK, these documents are specific to UK monitoring, but much of the methodology could be adapted to monitoring removals from other countries.