Amnesty for asylum seekers as 160,000 immigrants stay
A DAMNING report has accused the government of presiding over an immigration system that amounts to an “amnesty” for asylum seekers.
The influential commons home affairs select committee report said it was clear that the UK Border Agency (UKBA) was “still not fit for purpose”, despite attempts to bolster Britain’s migration controls.
Figures show that only nine per cent of the 403,500 claims processed by the agency since 2006 have been rejected.
A backlog of about 450,000 applicants for asylum emerged in that year, leading then Labour home secretary John Reid to describe the system as “not fit for purpose”.
Since then, 161,000 of the applicants have been given leave to remain in the UK. The report said the figure “amounts in effect to an amnesty”.
It also claimed the UKBA had “no idea” what happened to tens of thousands of other cases.
Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: “The government is set on reducing immigration to the tens of thousands and effectively controlling immigration.
“It will have to ensure that the UK Border Agency begins to focus on the outcome rather than the processes of their work.”
Analysis | Food Crises
American Splnach
In September 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration said it had traced a major outbreak of E. coli to a Californian Spinach processor. By that autumn, nearly 200 cases of illness had been reported, leading to more than 100 hospitalisations and three deaths.
British Beef
In 1996, it was discovered there was a human equivalent of BSE or “mad cow disease”, originating from British cattle. A European ban on British beef exports, lifted in 2006, decimated the £500m-a-year UK beef industry. By 2003, nearly 90 people in the UK had died.
Chinese Milk
By November 2008, China reported an estimated 300,000 children had fallen ill from consuming milk products tainted with melamine. Of those, six children died, due to kidney complications. The chemical was added to the milk by producers to boost its protein content.