There have been over seven million asylum applications to EU countries since 2008, while there have been over two million illegal border crossings into the EU since the start of 2014. The vast majority of those entering in this way will have claimed asylum. This wider European crisis has a knock-on effect in the UK, […]
There have been no removals in 2021 of illegal cross-Channel migrants to safe European countries. Home Office statistics revealed that no migrants were sent back to safe EU countries in the first quarter of 2021 (January to March 2021), despite a supposed crackdown on “inadmissible” asylum claims, because governments including France will not accept them. […]
A YouGov poll published in June 2021 made clear that the public are opposed the scandal of illegal crossings from safe countries. It revealed: 60% of the public think that illegal migrants should be banned from claiming asylum, compared to around a fifth who think the opposite. 64% of people think that removing people deemed […]
According to new provisional estimates by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), net migration from overseas to the UK in the year ending June 2020 was just over 247,000. Total long-term immigration by all citizenships was estimated at 622,000 and total emigration was estimated at 375,000. This would be about 40,000 higher than the net […]
The government announced changes to the immigration and asylum system in March 2021. See the Home Secretary’s statement to Parliament on the government’s proposals. A policy statement is available here. Migration Watch UK welcomes the government’s renewed efforts to deter illegal immigration and tackle asylum abuse. Illegal entry is “most common method of entry for […]
There were 114,000 convictions of UK residents for TV licence fee evasion in 2019 (Ministry of Justice data). In contrast there have been less than 50 convictions for illegal entry or overstaying under Section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971 in each of the past four years (2018-2021). The statute book is full to bursting […]
The government has detailed its proposals for tackling abuse of the asylum system in a new policy statement issued late last month. It includes news that nearly 50,000 people who were detected having illegally arrived in the UK by various means (see below and Home Office policy statement, March 2021). The document confirms that the […]
Two in three modern slavery referrals made by foreign nationals in detention that were concluded between 2017 and 2019 were rejected. This rejection rate increased from 65% in 2017 to 70% in 2019. Table 1- Outcomes of modern slavery referrals from detention (HO analysis, Mar 2021). The news comes as the Home Office revealed it […]
Commenting Alp Mehmet, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “These proposals are welcome. They are, rightly, designed to remove those who make false claims and to deter “asylum shoppers” who come here from countries where they are already safe. The asylum system has come very close to collapse because of high numbers and increasing abuse. […]
Summary 1. The PM said of his asylum policy on 18 March 2021: “The objective here is to save life.” That same day he spoke in favour of his long-standing proposal for an amnesty for long-term illegal immigrants. If the aim is to save life, why would you offer an amnesty that would only spur […]