The UK’s illegal immigrant population could already be as high as 1.2 million, greater than the population of Birmingham, according to Pew Research. This is a serious problem.
In recent years, the main illicit route has been by small boats crossing the Channel.
In 2022, nearly 50,000 came in makeshift dinghies and thousands more come every year hidden in lorries.
The result is an overwhelmed and costly asylum system that is rife with fraud. Thousands are being put up in hotels at vast expense to the taxpayer, even sometimes for years at a time.
Most those arriving via illicit routes claim asylum in the UK having travelled across many countries where they were already safe. This is not how the Refugee Convention is meant to work.
This growing asylum abuse is unacceptable to the public.
Our asylum system is overwhelmed and abused
We now have the highest number of asylum claims in 20 years.
The cost of asylum operations to taxpayers is now£2.1 billion per yearand has nearly doubled in just one year (£5 million per day is being spent to house claimants in hotels).
The backlog of claims has now surpassed 130,000, with 70,000 people waiting a year or more for their claim to be initially considered.
The number of claimants receiving asylum handouts is now an astounding 116,000 (up from 33,000 in 2014).
