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thomas davison

Asylum seekers cost �1.5m a day
BRITAIN�S SHAMBOLIC asylum system set taxpayers back more than �1.5million a day last year.
By: Anil Dawar
Published: Sat, June 15, 2013

An-illegal-immigrant-camp-adjacent-to-the-ferry-crossing-from-Calais-to-the-UK An illegal immigrant camp adjacent to the ferry crossing from Calais to the UK

The Home Office had to fork out �583million on 37,000 asylum claims, the Daily Express can reveal.

Two out of three cases of people trying to stay in the UK were more than a year old and nearly 14,000 had waited at least three years, according to official figures.

The money went on housing, cash support, legal bills and paperwork.

But the total does not include asylum seekers� legal aid bills, the cash spent on them by councils or the cost of a backlog of hundreds of thousands of other migration cases.

Campaigners yesterday condemned the huge cost of would-be refugees � roughly �14,500 per case.

Matthew Sinclair of the TaxPayers� Alliance said: �The best way to reduce the cost of the asylum system is to ensure decisions are made swiftly and fairly.

Sadly, the UK Border Agency is responsible for a backlog of cases bogged down in bureaucracy. This costs taxpayers a fortune and leads to some cases being successful just because of the delays.

�For too long the burden and pernicious effect of this backlog, combined with EU legislation, has been allowed to mount.�

Euro MP Gerard Batten, Ukip�s Home Affairs spokesman, said: �Half a billion pounds is an extraordinary amount.

�This cost is only going to mount further because the EU is laying down more laws to strengthen rules for us to follow and grant sanctuary to ever growing numbers.

�In times of economic crisis, we should be looking to streamline the procedures to reduce these costs not increase them.�

Alp Mehmet, of MigrationWatch, said: �We have no problem with the numbers granted asylum but we do have a problem when they are not dealt with quickly and those who have no right to be here are not removed in a timely way.

�The longer they are here the more the bill will mount up for the poor taxpayer. These are eye-watering amounts.

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We have no problem with the numbers granted asylum but we do have a problem when they are not dealt with quickly and those who have no right to be here are not removed in a timely way

Alp Mehmet, of MigrationWatch

�Some say there are not enough resources put into it. These figures could back the argument for putting more resources in because in the long term it could save money.�

Home Office figures unearthed by the Daily Express highlight the snail-like pace of dealing with asylum cases.

In June last year there were 37,381 �work in progress� cases. An average of 37,299 were open at any one time during the previous 12 months � up from 36,838 a year earlier.

Of the 37,381 applications, 23,481 were failed asylum seekers waiting for removal.

The number of claimants waiting for the initial decision on their bid for refugee status stood at 6,192, up from 4,851 a year earlier.

And outstanding applications for �further leave to remain� grew from 2,761 in 2011 to 2,986 last year.

In March, Home Secretary Theresa May abolished the UK Border Agency after five years of catastrophic failure and a string of immigration scandals.

The agency, set up under Labour, was cut in two and brought under Home Office control as Mrs May condemned it for a �closed, secretive and defensive culture�.

The move came after a Parliamentary report found the total backlog of 300,000 cases would take 24 years to clear at the current work rate.

The hidden cost of looking after failed asylum seekers was revealed earlier this year when Kent County Council threatened to bill the Home Office for the �1.5million it spent each year on housing and cash for more than 100 failed asylum seekers waiting to be deported.

Last night, a Home Office spokesman said: �This Government is committed to streamlining the asylum process and last year the average cost per asylum case fell by almost �1,000.

�Our changes have already seen asylum cases resolved more quickly, the number of appeals fall and the cost of asylum support reduced by �200million.

WHAT CAN I SAY! YOU DESERVE EVERYTHING YOU GET, YOUR WIMPS, APPEASERS, GET ON WITH IT AND WHEN THEY THROW YOU AND YOUR FAMILY OUT IT WILL ALL BE YOUR FAULT.