Asylum age FRAUD hits record level as illegal arrivals rocket
New year, new victory. Over New Year we published a paper showing that the number of adult asylum seekers claiming to be children has been shooting up. Now ministers have issued a statement acknowledging the concerns for child safety that result from uncontrolled and rising asylum applications.
Shortcomings in age assessment have resulted in adults (mostly men) claiming to be under-age minors being placed among children in schools and other settings meant for genuine children. This is a safety nightmare. Lax and chaotic procedures are putting the most vulnerable in our society at greater and greater risk. While the Home Office issued a statement noting the seriousness of the threat, we remain concerned that reforms contained in the Nationality and Borders Bill going through Parliament will prove inadequate. Always assuming that the Bill is not totally eviscerated by the (mostly) out of touch Upper House.
As we have written before, the Bill contains a number of potentially useful measures, some of which we have proposed ourselves. After all we are talking about the safety of our children.
Blog of the week
Our President spoke in the Lords this week when he intervened in the second reading of the Nationality and Borders Bill on the subject of asylum abuse and how we might reverse the trend that brought nearly 30,000 people here illegally across the English Channel last year. Key points in the speech included: the huge decline in the number of removals of failed asylum seekers and the initial placement of asylum seekers in four star hotels; and the slow pace of processing asylum claims as our overwhelmed and bloated asylum system becomes increasingly dysfunctional. Speeding up the system and a more appropriate holding estate, as well as the swift removal of those with no right to be here are all essential and have to be a part of how to deal with the problem. The system is now costing £1,500 million a year. Lord Green ended by saying, “If fundamental reform cannot be achieved within the present legal framework, the government should re-examine the 1951 Convention and the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) in the face of continuing, massive and uncontrolled illegal entry.” For the whole speech, and some helpful contributions from other members of the Lords, see here. You can see a video of the speech here.
Migration Watch in the news
Meanwhile, our chairman, Alp Mehmet, was also busy.
‘Presenting false and fraudulent documents is nothing new. What is new – and not lost on traffickers and fixers – is that the absence of genuine documents, and even lying to an official, makes little difference to whether an illegal entrant will be allowed to stay. Indeed, it can work in their favour.
‘This absurd situation won’t change until failure by applicants to present proper evidence of who they are leads to asylum or other protection being denied. Sadly, the Government doesn’t have the courage or will for such a course of action.’
‘The asylum system is so open to abuse that adults claiming to be children can be given the benefit of the doubt and be placed among minors in both accommodation and schools.
‘The risks to the safety of our children are obvious.
‘It is high time the Government stopped pandering to the immigration industry and dealt with adult migrants as such and not as what they claim to be.’
The Times: 2,000 false IDs a year are seized by border officials
‘The absence of genuine documents, and even lying to an official, makes little difference to whether an illegal entrant will be allowed to stay . . . This absurd situation won’t change until failure by applicants to present proper evidence of who they are leads to asylum or other protection being denied.’
Talk Radio: 2 in 3 people seeking refuge claim to be under 18
‘If you claim you are a child, the fact is that you are given the benefit of the doubt even when there is considerable doubt, and then it is that much easier to be granted asylum.’
You can also see Alp’s appearance on Talk Radio with Julia Hartley Brewer to discuss the record Channel crossings in 2021.
Talk Radio: A record 28,300 migrants crossed the English Channel by boat to the UK in 2021
‘I’m afraid these huge numbers are sadly going to grow. If the numbers treble again we could be looking at close to 90,000 crossings by the end of 2022. The fact is, it’s very easy to get here.’
You can also keep up to date with the recent figures on our Channel Tracker here.
Please also see here for our President Lord Green’s letter in the Times in response to proposals that would make it easier for Indian migrants to get work visas as part of a trade agreement with India. As Baroness Neville-Rolfe also commented in the Lords, “Our Immigration Rules are a national matter and should not be the subject of negotiation with any foreign country. Immigration entitlement has no place in any agreement on trade.” Hear, Hear, Baroness.
Make your voice heard
We have always held that persistence and unapologetic commitment to the truth wins out in the end. It is for this reason that we will not resile from telling it how it is on immigration and will not allow the political class to ignore what some 30 million of us think about the government’s immigration failures. All we would like is for common sense and the interests of British public to prevail when it comes to immigration policy. If you share this sentiment, as we know you do, why not start by writing to your MP and voicing your concerns both on the huge shortcomings in the asylum system and the new, appallingly lax points-based systems.