Migration Watch UK: Boris Johnson Has ‘Lost Control’ of Illegal Immigration

DOVER, ENGLAND - JULY 11: Boris Johnson gestures during a visit to the Port of Dover Ltd.,
Chris Ratcliffe - Pool/Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has “lost control” of the growing illegal migration crisis, despite promises from Johnson to send back boat migrants, a report from Migration Watch UK claimed.

The report from the mass-migration sceptic think tank said that one year after the prime minister warned illegal migrants that the government “will send you back”, increasing waves of illegal migration have beset the United Kingdom.

According to the latest BBC estimate, approximately 4,200 illegal migrants have arrived in the UK since the start of the year by crossing the English Channel in small rubber boats from France. Since the beginning of last year, only 155 boat migrants have successfully been deported.

Upon arriving in the UK, most illegal migrants put in claims for asylum status to remain in the country, the report found.

The main issue Migration Watch UK highlighted in the report seen by Breitbart London is the so-called “pull factors” for migrants attempting to reach the UK, saying that “for many illegal entrants, getting to the UK is a no-lose option”.

One of the main factors is the inability or unwillingness on the part of the government to deport fraudulent asylum seekers and illegal migrants, as well as the massive subsidies handed out to migrants awaiting their asylum claim to be processed.

Based on figures from the National Audit Office (NAO), the report assessed that there are currently some 150,000 asylum seekers in the country, including those who had their claims rejected and have not been deported by the government.

Migration Watch UK pointed out that the number of so-called asylum seekers in the country is about twice the size of the full-time British Army.

“The government have lost control of illegal immigration across the Channel. As well as deterring people from setting out, they must address the pull factors. A major review is essential, including revision of the law on payments to asylum seekers,” said Chairman of Migration Watch UK Alp Mehmet.

The report found that over the past few years, the UK has taken in triple the number of asylum seekers from European nations than were sent back to the EU under the Dublin Regulation.

It also found that the majority of migrants making illegal boat crossings of the Channel were Iranian, making up 57 per cent of all illegals. This was followed by Iraqi and Syrian nationals. However, the report noted that migrants hailing from African nations such as Chad, Sudan, Eritrea, and Egypt were increasingly making the illegal journey.

Asylum seekers who are eligible are “immediately” whisked off to one of the 4,000 rooms in hotels across the country, where they are provided accommodation at the expense of the British taxpayer.

There are currently an estimated 48,000 migrants are being housed in the UK at taxpayers’ expense. Aside from free housing, asylum seekers are also given free access to the National Health Service (NHS), dental and eyesight care, free education for their children, and a weekly stipend of £37.75 to £39.60 per week.

It is estimated that the British taxpayer will pay at least £4 billion to fund these migrant programmes by the end of the decade.

The Home Office has admitted that there has been an ‘increase in abuse’ of the asylum process, with many immigration case-workers just receiving two weeks of training, and they often quit within the first six months of their employment.

An anonymous case-worker quoted in the report said that those deciding on asylum claims will sometimes take the “easiest” route to make a decision on an asylum claim “homing in on just one reason rather than considering whether the whole story adds up”.

“In this case, the application is likely to be approved, when perhaps it shouldn’t be,” the case-worker admitted.

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