Border Agency faces backlog the size of Newcastle
The UK Border Agency is facing a backlog of more than 250,000 cases - the equivalent to the population of Newcastle - MPs have warned.
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The UK Border Agency backlog in numbers
The Home Affairs committee report said the UK Border Agency backlog of more than 275,000 included:
- At least 150,000 migrants who have been refused permission to stay in the UK
- 21,000 asylum cases
- 3,900 foreign offenders living in the community
- A further 57 foreign criminals who were released in 2006 without being considered for deportation have not yet been traced
And the so-called 'controlled archive', used for cases where the agency has lost track of the applicant, contains 80,000 asylum applications and 21,500 immigration cases, the report said.
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MPs: 'Border Agency inspections should be unannounced'
The Home Affairs committee report - which looks at the UK Border Agency's work between December last year and March - also called for the agency to make all its inspections of colleges unannounced, rather than giving them advance notice so key people and documents can be ready.
"If we are to eliminate bogus colleges from the education landscape and employers that abuse the immigration system then visits will have to be unannounced, robust and thorough," it said.
MPs: 'Cutting student visas will not benefit the UK'
The latest damning report on the UK Border Agency's work has also said the Home Affairs committee did not believe the Government's aim of cutting the 260,000 student visas issued each year by a quarter would benefit the UK.
Students should be excluded from the net migration figures instead, it said.
Britain would then continue to attract international students, a market worth £7.9 billion, and still be able to aim to meet David Cameron's pledge to cut net migration from 250,000 to the tens of thousands by 2015, the report said.
Keith Vaz: 'This backlog will takes years to clear'
Keith Vaz, the committee's chairman, said the backlog, which will take years to clear, was unacceptable, adding that the agency seems to have "acquired its own Bermuda triangle".
He added:
It's easy to get in, but near impossible to keep track of anyone, let alone get them out. This is the first time that the committee has collated all the cases at the UK Border Agency that await resolution. This backlog is now equivalent to the entire population of Newcastle upon Tyne.
UK Border Agency faces backlog the size of Newcastle
The troubled UK Border Agency faces a backlog of more than 200,000 cases - the equivalent to the population of Newcastle - MPs have warned.
Missing foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers, illegal immigrants and others refusing to leave the country make up more than 275,000 cases, which the agency still needs to deal with, the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee said.
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Shadow Home Secretary: Theresa May 'needs to get a grip' on border security
The Shadow Home Secretary has criticised Theresa May over the issue of Border security, following delays and long queues at Heathrow Airport. Yvette Cooper said that the delays are "bad for travellers and security".
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper: Theresa May needs 'to get a grip'
The shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has called on the Home Secretary Theresa May to "get a grip" of delays at UK airports.
She said:
– Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper"So much for the Prime Minister ordering Theresa May to get a grip last week. The chaos at our borders is clearly spreading to port after port - damaging our global reputation and our security too.
"This is becoming a circus, with staff being shunted from port to port to try and keep up because they cut so many in the first place without a back-up plan.
"She needs to get a grip, sort out unacceptable delays at our borders and make sure their are enough officers available at all our ports to maintain security too."
UKBA spokesman: ‘We will not compromise border security’
A UK Border Force spokesman said: "We flexibly deploy staff to meet demand, meaning that the vast majority of passengers pass through immigration controls quickly.
We will not compromise border security but work closely with airport operators to keep delays to a minimum."
Passengers voice their frustration at airport queues
One passenger told the BBC she waited for two hours at passport control, another said after a flight from Cork she waited so long they were put into another area.
Other passengers expressed their frustration on Twitter.
Sophie Elliot posted on the social networking site: "Last night at Stansted we were trapped in queues of over an hour - longer for the people behind us - cos 'a few planes landed early'."
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