WE CANNOT KICK OUT UK ILLEGALS
Just 3,500 deported from 27,000 on list
THE number of failed asylum seekers being kicked out of Britain has sunk to a record low.
The number has plunged by two-thirds since 2010, when the coalition came to power.
But Prime Minister Theresa May vowed during six years as Home Secretary to tackle the problem.
At the end of last December there was a backlog of nearly 27,000 failed asylum seekers deemed “subject to removal action”.
But fewer than 3,500 have left. Migration Watch estimates there are now up to 1.1million people living in the UK illegally. Yvette Cooper, Labour chairman of the Commons’ Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “This is a big drop in asylum enforcement at the same time as asylum delays have gone up. If rules are not implemented and properly enforced in a fair and timely way then it undermines confidence in the whole system.
“Yet it seems to be getting worse. The Government needs to explain why this is still happening.”
Conservative MP Tim Loughton, who also sits on the committee, said: “There are still too many people in the country illegally who are playing the system in order to evade deportation.
“If we are serious about reducing net immigration numbers and making sure that we welcome those to the UK who have most to contribute, we need to up our game in saying goodbye more speedily to those who have abused our hospitality.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “We have made it more difficult for people to remain in the UK illegally by incentivising voluntary returns, introducing tougher penalties for illegal working and restricting illegal migrants’ access to services.”