More than 50,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals are on the loose in the UK after fleeing the attention of officials. According to the Telegraph, internal Home Office figures show 1,200 foreign national offenders are amongst the more than 50,000 people who are listed as absconders on government systems.

Figures secured by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration show that, by December 2024, the number of illegal migrants recorded as missing exceeded the total still waiting for an initial asylum ruling. In March, 48,758 people remained in the Home Office queue for a first decision. Those unaccounted for include foreign offenders who escaped removal, failed asylum seekers who disappeared before they could be returned, and Channel arrivals who vanished after being released on immigration bail.

People subject to immigration controls must report regularly to the Home Office as part of their bail conditions. Those who stop making contact can be designated absconders and may face arrest and detention.

The findings come as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood prepares to unveil new legislation designed to prevent those arriving by irregular means from “gaming the system”.

The Home Office claims that the new bill, which will be put before MPs, including the Prime Minister in waiting Andy Burnham next week, will reduce small boat crossings and loss of life in the Channel by giving border officials increased powers.

The legislation is expected to direct how article 8 of the European convention on human rights (ECHR) is applied in immigration and deportation cases.

A source laid the blame at the feet of the Conservative Party, telling the Telegraph that: “Management of contact with those with no right to be in the UK was chaotic and data was unreliable,” said a Home Office source.

“Under the previous government, removals failed to keep pace with arrivals, and the Conservatives stopped asylum decision-making as they pursued their failed Rwanda plan. As a result, the asylum backlog ballooned to 175,000.”

The Home Secretary has pledged to double the Immigration Enforcement budget by 2028/29 and boost workforce numbers by 60% in comparison to the final year of the Conservative government. It is claimed that this will see tens of thousands more raids, arrests and deportations of illegal migrants.

The system for maintaining contact with migrants who might abscond has been overhauled with an extra £10m investment. This includes new digital self-service kiosks where migrants on bail report to the Home Office. They are designed to free immigration officers to work on speeding up and increasing deportations.

A further £3m is being invested in improving contact systems with new search technology being deployed to clear up “historic” cases of absconded migrants.

Home Office guidance says a person is classed as an absconder if they escape immigration detention or break the terms of their bail, cannot be located and remain unreachable after required attempts to contact them by phone, email or other means.

Almost 70,000 illegal migrants, including 10,000 foreign national offenders, have been removed from Britain since July 2024, a 41% increase.

Despite this, a record 19,779 foreign criminals remain in the community awaiting deportation after completing their prison sentences, up sharply from 7,869 in 2019.

Ministers have committed an additional £10million to overhaul the system used to keep track of migrants considered at risk of absconding. New digital kiosks will allow those on immigration bail to report to the Home Office without seeing an officer, freeing enforcement staff to focus on accelerating removals.

A further £3million is being spent on new tracing technology intended to resolve longstanding cases involving migrants who disappeared from the immigration system.