The short answer is that nobody knows, even the Home Office
can only estimate the number of visa overstayers, illegal entrants or
undocumented migrants there are in the UK.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated migration
to the UK for just one year, ending June 2016, at over 650,000. Prior to
the Brexit vote, immigration from the EU was the highest on record, while immigration
from non-EU countries was similar to previous years, despite measures to curb
it.
In another report, it has emerged that the number of EU nurses registering to work in the UK has dropped by 90% since the Brexit vote last June.
How do we work out the number of illegal immigrants?
Illegal immigrants in the UK exist largely as an unregistered
collective, according to the New Statesman, because if the registered they
would risk being deported and banned from returning to the UK for many years.
The ONS said that “by its very nature it is impossible to
quantify accurately the number of people who are in the country illegally.” Population
Surveys or the official Census figures are based on information provided
voluntarily by householders.
The last official estimate was compiled in 2005 when the government
assessed methods used by other countries to estimate their level of illegal
immigration, and applied the finding to the UK. They predicted the number at
430,000, but the London School of Economics produced a report in
2007 estimating the number of ‘irregular’ migrants at 533,000.
The Home Office collect “Immigration
Enforcement Data”, such as number of enforcement raids based on tip-offs,
number of people refused visa entry and number of overstayers deported from the
UK.
In the second quarter of 2016 there were just 941
enforcement visit arrests. However, the Migration Observatory at the
University of Oxford said that 40,896 immigrants were deported in 2015,
which would include migrants refused visa extensions or overstaying students.
At 40,000 removals a year it would take almost 11 years to
remove all illegal immigrants based on the government’s own estimates and
assuming no increase in numbers.
The ippr estimated that it would take 20 years to remove 500,000 illegal migrants at a cost of £5 billion. It costs an average of £10,000 to remove someone from the UK, so those figures are not so far fetched.
Other organisations, such as Migration Watch, estimate much higher numbers of undocumented migrants and the number could be between 750,000 and 1,000,000 people living illegally in the UK. This has prompted calls for an amnesty, which even Boris Johnson supported when he was the London Mayor.
Other organisations, such as Migration Watch, estimate much higher numbers of undocumented migrants and the number could be between 750,000 and 1,000,000 people living illegally in the UK. This has prompted calls for an amnesty, which even Boris Johnson supported when he was the London Mayor.
The 2016 Immigration Act will make life harder for illegal as well
as legal migrants wishing to work in the UK on a working or student visa.
Private property owning landlords can be fined up to £3000
for letting to anyone who does not have the right to reside in the UK and can
face criminal charges and jail for knowingly renting to illegal immigrants.
The UK is still an attractive place to work, start a business and buy property – no restrictions on foreign buyers - a vibrant mortgage market with record low interest rates.
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