50,000 Illegal Migrants Go Missing in Britain's Immigration Shambles

50,000 Illegal Migrants Go Missing in Britain's Immigration Shambles

The scale of Britain’s immigration mess was laid bare yesterday as a report exposed that 50,000 illegal immigrants are at large in the country, and a further 175,000 are waiting to be deported. The revelation came as the Mayor of Calais called Britain an ‘El Dorado’ for immigrants due to its generous benefits system and unwillingness to deport illegals.

The Public Accounts Committee said the abolition of the UK Border Agency last year had led to an increased backlog of asylum claims. In the first three months of this year there was 16,273 asylum seekers who were still waiting for a first decision, a sharp increase on the 9,559 for the same period in 2013. In addition to that, the Home Office has no idea where 50,000 illegal immigrants are, raising questions about the standard of monitoring.

To add to the problems there are now huge numbers of Africans camped near the ferry port in Calais hoping to enter the UK illegally by jumping on board trucks bound for Dover. Despite the best efforts of French authorities, the camps keep springing up as immigrations believe they will have a better life in Britain than they would elsewhere in Europe.

This has led to the French suggesting that the border be moved to Dover, forcing the UK authorities to deal with the camps. The Mayor of Calais told the Home Affairs Select Committee the UK was a “soft touch” and the new fences erected by the British government in the French town “made everyone laugh”. Natacha Bouchart said: “These people are ready and prepared to die to come to England.”

Although the government has pledged action on immigration, it has so far been powerless to act because of European Union Treaties. This led Conservative MP Nick Boles to tell Total Politics magazine that although “some pretty draconian steps” might limit immigration from outside the EU the controls would be undermined because “there’s another big chunk of it that we can’t control”. 

He claimed the lack of control “troubles” British people.

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