5 Jul 2012

Where have all the illegal immigrants gone?

At least 150,000 illegal immigrants have been refused permission to stay in the UK, but it is not clear how many are still living here.

At least 150,000 illegal immigrants have been refused permission to stay in the UK, but it is not clear how many are still living here (Reuters)

That is the conclusion of the chief inspector of the UK Border Agency (UKBA), John Vine, who says in a report that tracking down and removing absconders is not seen as a priority by the agency.

He said: “There are over 150,000 cases nationally of migrants who have been refused an extension of stay in the UK. The agency does not know how many of these individuals have left the country or who are waiting to be removed.

“I also saw no evidence that there is a clear plan in place for the agency to deal with this stream of work to ensure this does not become another backlog.”

Underestimate

An inspection of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight local immigration team at the end of 2011 found that staff greatly under-estimated the scale of the problem.

An analysis of 44 cases by the inspectors found less than half had left the UK, 20 voluntarily and one as an enforced removal. Of the remaining 23, the inspectors said the “greatest concern” was that the absconder tracing process was not always followed.

Nine of the absconders had not been added to the police national computer as either “wanted” or with a “locate trace” marker. Some of the 23 were making further appeals to stay, were serving prison sentences or awaiting travel documents, the report shows.

But Mr Vine said the team was exceeding its removal targets and asylum decisions were made promptly in most cases.

Over-stayers

Immigration Minister Damian Green said: “Under the last government there was no effective strategy in place to ensure migrants left at the end of their time in the UK.

“The UK Border Agency is now working through a group of potential over-stayers to identify those who have not left. This summer the UKBA launched a UK-wide operation to remove over-stayers and we have already seen 1,800 removals since the campaign started.”

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government was failing on illegal immigration. She added: “Out of 150,000 people refused leave to remain, the government seems not to know or care how many are still here.

“The number of people absconding at Heathrow has nearly tripled, and the number of people caught halved under this Tory-led government.”

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