Scandal of the 400,000 migrants 'missing' throughout Britain

THE immigration crisis is in “intensive care” with the number of migrants who are missing or caught in a massive backlog is enough to fill the city of Cardiff.

David Cameron making speechGETTY

The government has been criticised for its handling of the immigration scandal

The total, almost 400,000, is highlighted in a Commons report, which comes after Britain’s border chief John Vine lashed out at the Home Office’s handling of immigration yesterday, saying it “isn’t good enough” at removing illegals.

A day earlier Mr Vine, the Chief Inspector of Borders, had revealed that more than 173,000 foreign nationals had overstayed their visas in the UK after 2008 and some 89,000 of those have vanished.

The true scale of the problem is far worse, says the damning assessment published today by the Home Affairs Select Committee. It says that the backlog of “unresolved” immigration cases – those involving people who have applied for asylum or citizenship but whose ases have yet to be dealt with – is now out of control and officials have lost track of 393,222 migrants.

It also criticises ministers for failing to achieve the Government’s promised reduction in net immigration because they underestimated EU migration levels. Keith Vaz, chairman of the committee, said: “Following John Vine’s recent report, it was estimated that the number of missing migrants in the UK had reached 89,000.

Hardly a day goes by when the UK government isn’t being criticised quite rightly for its failure to control who comes into our country

Steven Woolfe

“Added to the backlog of cases currently being dealt with at the Home Office, which is 304,222, this brings the total number of unresolved immigration cases to 393,222, which is more than the population of Cardiff.

In addition to this is the Government’s missed immigration target. Our immigration system has left A&E and has entered intensive care.”

Steven Woolfe, Ukip immigration spokesman, said the scandal is a “national disgrace”.

He added: “Hardly a day goes by when the UK government isn’t being criticised quite rightly for its failure to control who comes into our country either legally or illegally.

“In this report, the Home Office select committee nails down the most important criticism of all – the complete lack of functioning eBorder technical systems to track the numbers of those nonUK nationals who come in, overstay or go out.

"Add to this the hundreds of thousands of people who arrive clandestinely into the UK and what we have is not only a national embarrassment but a major national security issue.”

Immigration and security minister James Brokenshire said: “This Government is building an immigration system which is fair to British citizens and legitimate migrants, and tough on those who flout the law. Our reforms have curbed abuse.”

But he said it would take longer to “clear up the mess we inherited”. 

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