A senior police officer and brother of the Conservative former home secretary Sajid Javid has been appointed to a top immigration role in the Home Office.
Bas Javid, currently a deputy assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan police, has been appointed director general of immigration enforcement.
He is entering the Home Office at a time when officials and ministers are under increasing pressure to make the government’s immigration plans work.
Rishi Sunak has pledged to “stop the boats” by sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. However, the plans have stalled in the courts, while the number of asylum seekers coming to the UK and waiting to be processed has increased.
Sajid Javid served as home secretary between 2018 and 2019. He and Bas Javid are among five brothers who were born to their Pakistani father, a bus driver, and went on to high-flying careers in politics, business, property and the police.
Bas Javid will take up his role in November and will be tasked with the operational response to immigration offending while collaborating with other law enforcement agencies, including the police and Border Force.
He said: “Protecting the integrity of the UK’s immigration system is vital, so it is an honour to be appointed to this important role. I am excited to begin leading a group of dedicated, hard-working and talented public servants to ensure we uphold our rules and laws.”
Javid has held senior positions at Avon and Somerset police and West Midlands police.
He was the second-highest ranking officer in the Met police department that, alongside other senior officers, decided not to investigate the force’s handling of the Partygate gatherings, though Scotland Yard said he “actively recused himself from any decision-making due to the natural conflict”.
He was also responsible for professional standards in the Met after Sarah Everard’s murder by serving officer Wayne Couzens.
His appointment coincides with the latest arrivals of asylum seekers appearing to take the number of Channel crossings to more than 100,000 since 2018. As of Tuesday, 99,960 people had arrived in the UK after making the journey.
The home secretary, Suella Braverman, said: “Immigration abuse is a scourge on our society and I will leave no stone unturned in clamping down on this illegality. Bas brings a wealth of law enforcement experience and will further ramp up our efforts to tackle immigration offending, as the British people would expect.”
