Illegal immigration ‘could reach 870,000’
The number of illegal immigrants in Britain could be 300,000 higher than the most recent government estimates, according to Migrationwatch UK.
In June, home office figures put the number at between 310,000 and 570,000, but the right-wing lobby group believes that figure could be as high as 870,000.
Migrationwatch said the official figures do not include children born in Britain to illegal immigrants and, because they were based on 2001 data, do not take account of the 200,000 asylum seekers who had their applications since then and who remain in the UK.
“When the figures were first published a few weeks ago they rightly caused great consternation because they highlighted the extent to which the government has, in practice, lost control of our borders,” said chairman Sir Andrew Green.
“If they have failed to remove some three quarters of a million people who have no right to be in the UK, it is patently absurd to suggest otherwise.
“It is also clear that the government’s numbers could have been calculated and made public years ago. As usual, the government has been less than frank about the true situation.”
The Home Office said, however, that it was impossible to obtain an accurate figure for the number of people who may be in the country illegally.
“By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately, and that remains the case,” a spokesman said.
“The Home Office report referred to makes explicitly clear it is simply producing one estimate using one possible methodology and cannot be seen as an accurate or definitive figure.”
At the same time, the spokesman insists that the method used – based on the population census from 2001 – was the “only one that currently can sensibly applied in the UK”.
Questioned about how precise his figures were, Sir Andrew admitted it was impossible to get a completely accurate account of illegal immigration but said the number of failed asylum seekers was something that could be measured.
However, Keith Best, chief executive of the Immigration Advisory Service (IAS) said Sir Andrew was being “very naughty indeed” in saying failed asylum seekers were illegal.
He said, however, that such arguments would persist until verifiable figures for illegal immigration were available, something that could be helped by the reintroduction of embarkation controls, which are set to be introduced in the next two or three years.
This point was echoed by Sir Andrew, who said better embarkation control and faster removals would help tackle illegal immigration.
