by A.P.
Just over one per cent of failed asylum seekers were returned to European Union countries from Britain last year under the bloc’s resettlement scheme, which was still in effect until the first of January.
In the year leading up to the UK’s official departure from the European Union, only 105 of 8,502 attempts were successful in deporting illegal migrants back to the EU. Just 20 failed asylum seekers were returned to France, despite it being a banner year for illegal boat migration coming from the other side of the English Channel.
Conversely, under the EU asylum application regime, the Dublin III Regulation — which the UK was still bound by until the begging of this year — Britain took in nearly nine times as many asylum seekers from Europe, with 882 accepted into the country.
The Home Office said that the disparity explains why many migrants attempt to enter the UK illegally, with a source telling The Times: “It shows that for too long we have gold-plated our asylum system. We’ve gone above and beyond other EU countries. When people harp on about us being a do-little country and accuse us of not doing enough to resettle refugees, it couldn’t be further from the truth.”