Border Force Chief Phil Douglas revealed that asylum seekers have been stopped at airports trying to return to their home countries for Christmas, reports LBC.
According to a report by Express, Douglas said outbound checks are conducted “on people to certain flights that are prevalent” and that officials “do find a lot of people who have claimed asylum in this country and are heading back to their country of origin.”
This shocking news comes as Home Secretary James Cleverly stated that some asylum seekers are economic migrants rather than “genuinely seeking refuge from war, from violence.” He warned that those arriving illegally would face deportation. Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick echoed this sentiment, saying “it’s not right that somebody sleeping in a camp in France, comes across in a small boat and finds himself in a Holiday Inn.”
Germany faces a similar issue of asylum seekers taking holidays back home after claiming it would be too dangerous to return. This “leaves one speechless,” said German MP Armin Schuster. Officials have launched probes to crack down on this practice of migrants traveling back to the very nations they fled.
There is growing exasperation in Britain over failed government policies to curb illegal immigration. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged 700 new staff to monitor Channel crossings and speed up asylum case processing. However, 90 migrants crossed over on Christmas Day alone, bringing the 2022 total to over 45,000.
The influx has overwhelmed Britain’s asylum system. Over 40,000 boat migrants were quietly given expanded rights, admitting the Nationality and Borders Act failed to deter crossings or reduce backlogs. There are now 172,758 asylum seekers awaiting decisions, up 57% from last year and the highest number since records began.
Desperate for solutions, the Home Office has considered housing asylum seekers in off-season holiday camps like Pontin’s and Butlin’s. But most facilities now operate year-round. “The scale of the problem is huge,” said a Home Office source. Camps could provide services whilst confining migrants, but industry objections may derail the proposal.
Britain has spent £2 billion on asylum seekers this year alone, up £756 million. Yet the hotel program has become a “laughing stock,” said Minister Jenrick. Some migrants are being moved from hotels to asylum barges, while others will be made to share rooms. 50 hotel contracts will end by January, with another 50 canceled by March.
There are still grave concerns. Liverpool officials report refugees sleeping rough in the city after complaining “Britain is no good for asylum.” At the Wethersfield center, nightly fights erupt between nationalities over “prison-like” conditions. An asylum seeker there says “no one on the camp is feeling safe.”
The government maintains safety is their top priority and that violence will not be tolerated. But the reality suggests Britain remains overwhelmed by the migrant influx, with no easy solutions in sight.
