Migration Watch: Number of Freed Foreign Criminals Has Doubled Since 2012

A report from a mass migration sceptic think tank has revealed that the number of convicted foreign criminals freed to roam the streets of Britain has doubled since 2012, and warned that the increase poses a growing risk to families.

The Migration Watch UK analysis found that some 9,400 foreign national offenders (FNOs) are living free in communities across the United Kingdom, up from under 4,000 in 2012.

But despite the increasing numbers of foreign criminals, the number of deportations has fallen, with 1,000 fewer returns since 2016.

Non-EU foreign criminals make up the majority of those still residing in the country, representing 57 per cent (5,100) compared to 3,900 from European Union countries. While non-EU criminals made up the majority, they only represented one-third of all removals in 2019.

A further 9,000 foreign national offenders are currently imprisoned in Britain, making up a remarkable eleven per cent of the total prison population.

Commenting on the report, the Executive Director of Migration Watch UK, Dr Ben Greening, said in a statement seen by Breitbart London: “The massive increase in the number of foreign ex-offenders living in the community may be putting the public at unnecessary risk.

“We’ve already seen horrific cases of reoffending by those who should not have been here at all,” he added.

“The government must deliver on its promise to ensure more effective enforcement in this area,” Dr Greeining concluded.

In the 2019 Queen’s Speech, which outlined the priorities of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, it called for legislation to “maximise removal of foreign national offenders and deter them from returning to the UK”.

Migration Watch UK pointed out, however, that despite receiving criticism from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders for not disclosing proper information on the number of foreign criminals who re-offend after being released from prison, the government has so far refused to “disclose the scale of the problem”.

The think tank pointed to several obstacles to deporting foreign criminals endemic in the British system at present, including “last-minute” asylum claims, judicial review applications, foreigners without proper documentation, and criminals absconding.

Judges have also blocked many efforts to deport foreign criminals by the Priti Patel-led Home Office, blocking the deportation of a knife killer and a convicted drug dealer on “human rights” grounds in October, for example.

In June, judges blocked the deportation of mostly Jamaican criminals, including a killer and a rapist, on the grounds that the migrants were briefly denied access to working mobile phones while they were being detained.

Also in June, a Scottish judge stopped the deportation of a Taliban terrorist, who had already lost six tax-payer funded appeals against his deportation, claiming that he suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of fighting for the jihadist organisation — against Britain and its allies, presumably — and that he required free care from Brtiain’s socialised health service that he would not be less able to access in Afghanistan.

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