UK-Vietnam migration deal to speed up returns

The UK has signed a new migration agreement with Vietnam, announced on 29 October 2025. Downing Street says it will speed up the return of people found to have no legal right to stay in Britain, with the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signing alongside her Vietnamese counterpart. Reuters also reported the deal and the government’s claim that it reflects a wider push for international cooperation rather than acting alone.

Here is the plain-language version. The agreement aims to cut the time it takes to confirm someone’s identity and travel documents, using biometric data sharing and simplified paperwork. Officials say that, with evidence on file, processing could be reduced by around three quarters now and close to nine tenths over time. Ministers also suggest the deal could allow up to four times as many returns to Vietnam compared with previous capacity.

Why focus on Vietnam? The data helps explain it. Home Office statistics show Vietnamese nationals were the most common small‑boat nationality in the first quarter of 2024. Across the full year 2024, Vietnam ranked fourth among small‑boat nationalities. In the first half of 2025, Vietnamese small‑boat arrivals fell to 1,026-less than half the number in the same period of 2024. These figures are from the government’s official statistical releases.

You’ll see different words used in this debate. “Irregular” or “unauthorised” is the term statistical releases use for people arriving without permission; the law and politics sometimes use “illegal”. Returns and deportations are not the same. Deportation is usually for people with certain criminal convictions; removal (a return) covers those with no right to remain. And “biometrics” here means fingerprints and facial photographs used to check identity.

There’s also a new UK‑France treaty in the background. Ratified on 4 August 2025, it allows the UK to detain and rapidly return people who arrive by small boat and sets up a “one‑in, one‑out” legal route from France. The Home Office has since reported the first group removals under this treaty. Understanding this context helps you see why London is signing multiple deals at once.

What this means for timelines: if identity is proven quickly and the person has exhausted any rights to stay, officials can move faster to book a seat on a return flight. If identity cannot be confirmed, or if someone raises an asylum or trafficking claim, the process can take weeks or months while evidence is gathered. The new Vietnam agreement is meant to shorten the document‑checking stage; it does not cancel legal rights.

Safeguarding matters. Vietnamese people are among the most frequently identified potential victims of modern slavery in the UK. Home Office data for 2024 shows Vietnamese referrals to the National Referral Mechanism at their highest annual level on record. The 2019 Essex lorry case, in which 39 Vietnamese people died, also shapes how charities and schools talk about trafficking and risky journeys.

International law still applies. The UK is bound by the principle of non‑refoulement, which forbids returning someone to a place where they face a real risk of persecution, torture or serious harm. That duty applies regardless of how someone arrives and sits alongside domestic asylum rules. When you read official claims about “swift returns”, check whether an asylum or trafficking claim has been raised and assessed first.

Downing Street frames the Vietnam deal as part of a broader clamp‑down on smugglers and a promise to cut hotel costs. The government says 35,000 people with no right to remain were removed in its first year, including 5,200 foreign national offenders, a 14% rise on the previous year. Those numbers come from the government’s own briefing; independent quarterly statistics are the best place to track longer‑term trends.

For classroom discussion, try reading the numbers like an investigator. Ask what the baseline is for claims like “four times as many returns”. Look for the exact period being compared, whether totals include voluntary departures as well as enforced removals, and whether appeals are still pending. This is the heart of media literacy: take the claim, find the dataset, and test it against time.

Rights and responsibilities in one place. If you’re studying citizenship or law, note that “deportation” orders are distinct and typically follow serious criminal offences, while most people returned are removed administratively after due process. Biometric checks are standard in visa systems; in the UK that usually means up to ten fingerprints and a facial image.

Finally, this agreement sits within a wider UK‑Vietnam relationship that is being upgraded. During the visit of Vietnam’s Communist Party leader To Lam to London, both sides signalled a move to a comprehensive strategic partnership, alongside sector deals on trade and security. It’s a reminder that migration policy often travels with diplomacy and economics.