The Home Office has launched a procurement drive to find commercial partners to help "reintegrate" people without the right to live in the UK to their home countries.
The contract, worth £15 million over three years, was published last week.
The announcement said the department was looking "to identify suitable reintegration service providers" to help migrants return from the UK to 11 different countries.
The countries are Albania, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Nigeria, Pakistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
According to the tender notice, contractors will help provide food parcels, assist in tracing family members and provide support to access labour markets, among other things.
Last week, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced that the government aims to achieve the highest deportation rate for failed asylum seekers in five years over the next six months.
The target is to deport more than 14,000 people by the end of the year, British media reports.
"The Government plans to make a significant leap forward in immigration enforcement and returns activity to remove people without the right of abode in the UK and ensure compliance and enforcement. Continued international co-operation with partner countries plays a crucial role in this and we will work closely with a number of countries around the world as part of the mission to end irregular migration," said a department spokesperson.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected to office early last month, has also vowed to "smash the gangs" of people smugglers who bring illegal migrants into Britain on small boats sailing across the English Channel.
According to the latest figures, more than 20,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing from France on rudimentary vessels.
This is up slightly on the figures for the same period last year, but down on 2022.
Refugee charities have called on the government to create safer routes to deter people from making the dangerous journey.
Official figures released last week showed that almost 119,000 people were waiting for a decision on their asylum claim at the end of June 2024. | BGNES
