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 […]
Acute uncertainty pervades the official measurement of immigration for a number of reasons. The abrupt cessation of the use of the tried-and-tested (albeit far-from-perfect) International Passenger Survey (IPS) for measuring immigration means that the latest estimates are based upon ‘experimental’ research derived from administrative data. Secondly, these figures cover the period including after the onset […]
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 […]
The Home Office is on the verge of releasing its plan to reform asylum rules to deter vexatious legal claims by activist lawyers and those with no right to be in the UK who are attempting to stave off their removal. The public has learned about these plans in nuggets released to the press in […]