MORE than half a million failed asylum seekers have been allowed to remain in Britain indefinitely because Government cuts mean cash-strapped immigration courts cannot afford to hear their appeal cases, Express.co.uk can reveal today.

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More than half a million asylum seekers are being allowed to remain in Britain

A vast backlog of asylum appeals has built up with many cases unlikely to be heard for up to a year and possibly longer because of a “farcical” funding dispute between Theresa May’s Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

As a result the majority of those immigrants will be granted leave to stay in the UK when they finally come before the courts - even if their initial arguments were weak - because during the drawn out proceedings they are allowed to stay in Britain and build up the strength of their human rights cases. 

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Many will simply have children, meaning they cannot be deported because of their right to a family life. 

The absurd situation has arisen because swingeing Government cuts to justice have left immigration courts unable to process the huge numbers of asylum appeals being sent their way. 

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The figures are a huge embarrassment for Home Secretary Theresa May

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The Government had pledged to get tough on immigration

A high placed source within the immigration courts system said that “at least half” of the courtrooms at each hearing centre have been shut in a bid to meet George Osborne’s savings targets. 

In turn the Home Office, itself under budgetary pressures, is merely deferring any applications to stay in Britain which it believes could result in an appeal. 

The senior whistleblower told Express.co.uk that the result is a vast 500,000-strong back log of cases, which is rapidly expanding because both departments are “more interested in protecting their budgets than administering justice”. 

When contacted by this website, both departments tried to pass the buck off onto one another. 

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The farcical situation emerged as Europe remains in the grip of a huge migrant crisis

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A highly placed source said immigration judges have been left 'sitting idle'

Each case relates to at least one person but can concern a number of individuals, meaning more than half a million immigrants are living in the UK today despite the Home Office ruling that they have no right to be here. 

Our highly placed source said that immigration judges have been left to “sit idle” as the petty dispute escalates. 

They said: “There appears to be a farcical internal dispute going on between the Home Office who refuse the applications to stay in the UK, and the Ministry of Justice who are refusing to fund the court costs of the subsequent appeals. 

“Both departments are more interested in protecting their budgets than administering justice.

“Immigration judges sit idle whilst the backlog of appeals in the system grows and appeals today are being listed for July 2016. The Government’s response has bizarrely been to close Immigration Appeal courts.” 

They are more interested in protecting their budgets than administering justice

Immigration courts source

They added: “While failed applicants remain in the UK they continue to accumulate Human Rights to remain. By the time they come to court their ‘right to a family life’ has been established and their appeal is granted. 

“The Government are ‘saving’ money by closing courts and spending far more than the amount saved on supporting failed asylum seekers and their families. 

“Removing these people from the UK, thousands of whom have appealed on fatuous grounds, would make room for genuine refugees. 

“I can no longer remain silent and hope that you can expose the truth to the British public.” 

The revelations will further dent the Home Secretary’s reputation for being tough on immigration, which sources within the justice system have blasted as little more than a political facade. 

Mrs May initiated a supposed crackdown on abuse of the immigration appeals system last year when the Tories passed new laws in parliament. 

Migrant crisis explained in numbers

Fri, November 6, 2015

A monthly record of 218,394 migrants and refugees reached Europe by sea in October, the UN says, almost as many as the total number of arrivals in 2014. We take a look at the shocking statistics facing the humanitarian crisis


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But official reports from within the court system show that the legislation has been an abject failure which has heaped more pressure on the overstretched judiciary. 

In the 2014 Senior President of Tribunals’ Annual report, which provides a performance overview of all the tribunal courts operating in Britain, the Home Office gleefully predicted that the number of appeals would fall. 

The report stated that the backlog of appeals was down to a record low of 2,212 and added: “Present Home Office predictions are that in the longer term the volume of appeals expected will begin to decrease again in 2014/15 and the Immigration Bill, published in October, proposes further narrowing of appeal rights.” 

But just a year later the annual report by the same body paints a very different picture. It blasts the Government over a “lack of judicial capacity” and long delays in hearing cases, adding that Theresa May’s new laws “will make considerable demands on an already hard pressed judiciary”. 

Immigrants and asylum seekers who arrive in Britain have to apply to the Home Office for leave to remain. However, many of those who are turned down have the right to appear before an immigration tribunal to dispute the decision. 

The farcical situation has developed after the number of sitting court rooms at immigration centres across the UK was slashed. 

It was reported that one of Britain’s biggest immigration courts, at Taylor House in London, had its number of hearing rooms cut from around 25 to just seven over the summer. 

At nearby Hatton Cross, also in London, the number was slashed from 20 to 12, whilst in Britain’s second largest city Birmingham the tally of hearing rooms was reportedly cut to just six. 

Sources within the immigration courts system said that the number of agency staff dealing with administration has also been cut, but more money is being spent on expensive freelance judges to hear individual cases. 

Writing on his online blog, Free Movement, leading immigration barrister Colin Yeo said: “Waiting times for appeals are already many, many months and last minute adjournments due to lack of judges are already commonplace.” 

In response a spokesman for the Home Office said his department would not comment on any aspect of the situation, adding it was a matter for the MoJ. 

The MoJ also dodged questions on the issue, referring our questions back to the Home Office and to Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS). 

A spokesman for HMCTS would not disclose how large the current backlog of cases is or how many court rooms have been closed. 

He said: "Immigration and asylum appeals are currently being heard within eight months on average. Significant delays only arise when cases are very complicated.

"To maintain current performance levels we are putting in additional sitting days for judges from next month.

"It is nonsense to suggest we are in dispute with the Home Office and we continue to work closely with them on reforms to the immigration system."

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