Taxpayers foot spiralling bill to house failed asylum seekers

[dutchman]

Over 1,000 migrants have been receiving benefits despite failed claims for over a decade, according to Home office figures



Taxpayers are having to foot the bill for over 1,000 migrants who have been stuck in the asylum system for more than 10 years but Government has been unable to remove.

There are 1,096 failed asylum seekers currently receiving financial support and free accommodation who first applied 10 or more years ago, according to Home Office data obtained under Freedom of Information laws.

Many have managed to remain in the UK by launching multiple appeals against the rejection of their asylum claims or deportation orders, often on human rights grounds.

They can also postpone their return if they have successfully claimed a medical reason to delay travelling back to their homeland citing their physical or mental health. Others will have no safe route of return to their home country.

The Government has to provide these failed asylum seekers with free accommodation and £49.18 per week – called Section 4 support, as they would otherwise be destitute.

Officials have ruled that failure to pay the handouts would be a breach of the refused asylum seeker’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The overall numbers of those receiving Section 4 support have increased by more than 50 per cent over the past decade, the Home Office figures show. There are 2,927 failed asylum seekers receiving Section 4 support as of December 2024 compared to 1,876 in 2013.

But it is those whose asylum claims date back more than 10 years whose numbers ballooned under the last Tory government from zero to 1,096.

Of these people 738 lodged their first claim for asylum between 10 and 15 years ago, while 358 put in their application more than 15 years ago.

Government officials say some of these people may be “boomerang” asylum seekers, meaning they have been deported once already and then returned to make a second failed application.

In the past three months, The Telegraph has revealed how dozens of illegal migrants or foreign criminals have remained in the UK or avoided deportation by claiming it would be a breach of their human rights under the ECHR.

There are a record 41,987 outstanding immigration appeals, largely on human rights grounds, which threaten to hamper efforts to fast-track the removal of illegal migrants.