Ross, fwiw here's the various removal/returns/deportation figures. Updated figures should be out this month.
https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/deportation-and-voluntary-departure-from-the-uk/
The recent supposed increase in removals is mostly performative from 'enforcement'. When I was doing this in London in the 70/80s we were told there were roughly 200,000 'nickable' foreigners in London. We did not even have staff at either ISIS or the IU to respond each morning to people who had been picked up by the police overnight. Many ended up walking and 'disappearing'.
Latest estimates show 1 in 13 'Londoners' is an illegal immigrant. It's like shooting fish in a barrel!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/01/22/one-in-13-in-london-is-an-illegal-migrant/
Whilst it is comparatively easy to remove to such as Albania (with an agreement negotiated by the PREVIOUS government) it is still well-nigh impossible to get a travel document out of, for example, the Nigerian High Commission.
N.B. From 2015 to 2022, the UK Government provided approximately £1.96 billion in bilateral Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to Nigeria and has allocated £72.3 million in bilateral ODA for financial year 2023/2024. You'd think they might issue a few passports after such largesse?
