Deportation of foreign nationals in Scotland's overcrowed prisons must be 'urgently explored' amid rise

The Scottish Conservatives said returning criminals to their home countries would “free up much-needed space on the prison estate”.

The Scottish government said it was a matter for the Home Office, with officials regularly in contact on issues relating to foreign national offenders and efforts to deport those eligible “as soon as possible”.

There are currently 749 foreign nationals in custody, according to figures provided by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS).

Of these, 409 of these have been convicted of a crime, while 340 are on remand.

This compares to 653 foreign nationals recorded in Scottish prisons in May 2025 and 629 in October 2024.

Criminals from Albania make up the largest group of foreign nationals in Scottish prisons, followed by those from Poland and Romania, according to the SPS last year.

The rise in foreign nationals in Scottish prisons comes as the country’s prison service struggles with an overcrowding crisis, with 8,500 people currently locked up in a system with a capacity of 7,805.

SPS says the size and complexity of the prison population is “unsustainable” and “now poses a significant risk“. The Scottish government has embarked on a series of early release schemes, including new proposals which would allow some criminals serving more than five years to be freed automatically after serving two thirds of their sentence.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Stephen Kerr said “every option” to relieve the prison overcrowding crisis - including deportation of foreign nationals - had to be “urgently explored”.

He said: “The SNP’s sticking plaster solution of early release schemes to Scotland’s prison overcrowding crisis simply isn’t working.

“That is why every option including working with the Home Office and the UK Labour government to deport foreign nationals in our jails should be urgently explored.

“Previous SNP justice secretaries hinted that they would liaise with their UK counterparts but have clearly failed to follow-up, if the numbers housed are on the increase.

“Taxpayers’ money shouldn’t be being wasted on housing foreign criminals that can and should be deported.

“Taking this common-sense approach would free up much-needed space on the prison estate while we wait for the SNP to deliver their overbudget and delayed prisons in Glasgow and the Highlands.”

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Two new prisons are under construction in Glasgow and the Highlands, but the latter will be delayed until next spring as a result of “construction issues”.

The SPS has been instructed to “exhaust all options” to maximise the capacity of the existing estate, including building temporary structures to house prisoners.

Just ahead of the Holyrood summer recess, Justice Secretary Neil Gray announced new early release measures, which could also see prisoners handed a sentence of less than five years back out in the streets after serving 30 per cent of their term.

Meanwhile, the presumption against short sentences would be expanded from 12 months to 24.

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Recent cases involving foreign nationals convicted of crimes in Scotland include Muhammad Sheikhi, a Syrian asylum seeker who was jailed for four years this month for sexually assaulted two women in Falkirk.

Sheikhi, 23, targeted his victims after they left different nightclubs in the early hours of a Sunday morning last November.

He was later arrested in his room in the Cladhan Hotel, which has been the scene of repeated rival protests involving pro and anti-immigration demonstrators.

Last week , a former translator for the British Army from Afghanistan who raped a woman after becoming a private hire driver in Scotland, was jailed for seven years.

Abdul Nabizada attacked the 19-year-old after failing to take her home from a night out in Edinburgh in 2021.

Nabizada, a father of four who lived in the Pilton area of Edinburgh, had applied for British citizenship after coming to the UK in 2016.

Prior to sentencing, his lawyer, David Taylor, told the court Nabizada was "at risk of deportation" due to the conviction.

He was previously granted indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom.

The Home Secretary has a legal duty to deport foreign criminals, with the ‘automatic deportation’ law applying to non-British, non-Irish nationals sentenced to at least 12 months’ imprisonment for a criminal offence in the UK, with certain exceptions.

A deportation order requires the person to leave the UK and prohibits them from returning. Deportation generally involves people who were in the UK legally before offending, with the order invalidating their right to remain.

People can also appeal against deportation, in particular under the European Convention on Human Rights,

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “Responsibility for immigration enforcement and deportation rests with the UK government.

“Officials engage regularly with Home Office counterparts on issues relating to foreign national offenders, and we support efforts to ensure those eligible for deportation or removal are removed from the UK as early as possible and in accordance with the law.”

An SPS spokesperson said: “As we have made clear, the size and complexity of the prison population is unsustainable. It now poses a significant risk to the safety of those living and working in our establishments and limits our ability to deliver effective rehabilitation.

“We continue to work with the Scottish government on a range of measures to address the pressures facing our prisons, and welcome their recent consultation on prison population and penal reform.

“Creating a safe and sustainable prison system is vital to ensuring we can fully support those in our care, reduce the risk of reoffending, and help build the safer communities we all want to see.”

The Home Office said almost 10,000 foreign criminals including murderers and rapists have been removed since the last election.

All foreign national offenders who receive a prison sentence in the UK are referred for deportation at the earliest opportunity, it said, and will be barred from ever returning to the UK.