165,000 asylum seekers to get 'amnesty' because of Home Office blunder over files

The vast bulk of the migrants are failed refugees whose files were left lying in boxes by bungling Home Office staff.

They have now been living here so long that officials have ruled that it would be a breach of their human rights to kick them out.

Ministers admitted that the first 19,000 have already been granted leave to remain under what the Tories described as a "stealth amnesty".

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All will now be free to bring their relatives to Britain - and claim the full range of benefits.

The revelation came amid a flurry of alarming admissions rushed out on the last day of Parliament before the Christmas recess.

It emerged that more than three million motorists are at risk of identity fraud after their personal details went missing.

The Home Office was also forced to admit it had been employing an illegal immigrant - as a security guard - for more than 18 months.

But it was the asylum fiasco that caused the greatest concern.

Councils have already been warned to make the migrants a priority for council housing. They will also be entitled to apply for British passports in four or five years.

The fiasco centres on 450,000 asylum claims uncovered by the Home Office last year in the wake of the foreign prisoner scandal. They were left lying around in boxes, with some files dating back to the mid-90s.

Officials say they are a combination of failed refugees who should have been deported, and people whose claims became lost in the chaotic asylum system.

Lin Homer, chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency, said of the 52,000 cases concluded to date, 19,000 - or 36.5 per cent - have been given leave to remain in Britain.

If, as expected, cases continue to be granted at the same rate, a total of 165,000 will be allowed to stay.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch UK, said: "The Home Office seem to be dealing with this enormous backlog of cases by dishing out permission to stay to tens of thousands of thousands of people who have not qualified for asylum.

"These failed asylum seekers now have a meal ticket for life and a place in the queue for social housing.

"It is hard to imagine a more dismal outcome for the billions of pounds that the Government has spent on the asylum system."

Some 17,000 of the 52,000 cases checked to date have been discounted, as they were duplicate records.

The Home Office said the remaining 16,000 had been removed from Britain since the trawl began. The cases do not apply to any particular date, officials said.

The remainder of the 450,000 cases will be considered over the next four years.

Shadow home secretary David Davis said: 'After 18 months' effort and on their own numbers the Government can still only claim to have removed 3 per cent of the backlog.

"At this rate it will take decades to remove the backlog, by which time we will have another backlog since the Government is also failing to meet its target of removing more failed asylum seekers than arrive.

"Since these are people who had not been granted the right to remain in the UK, this combination of low removal rates and lengthy delays, means this is effectively a stealth amnesty. This is a policy by incompetence rather than decision."

The Daily Mail - correctly predicting yesterday's announcement - revealed in August how councils had been sent letters preparing them for the news, as all of those approved will immediately-become entitled to apply for a local authority-house.

The major reason why so many of the claims will be approved is the Human Rights Act.

Those who have been in the country for many years can claim it is now their home and they no longer have links to their homeland.

The legislation, passed by Labour, also prevents the removal of asylum seekers to countries where they could face torture or persecution, which is likely to apply to thousands of cases in the backlog.

A Home Office document on how the scheme - known as the Legacy Exercise by the department - will operate says "each case will be evaluated on its individual merits, with an assessment of any human rights factors that may be relevant".

Lin Homer said: "This is not an amnesty. Individuals are judged according to the law.

"If someone has no right to remain in the UK, they will be removed - forcibly if necessary. Last year we removed record numbers of people. To date we have concluded 52,000 cases.

"Two thirds have either been removed, or discovered to be duplicate files or errors."

Councils are furious that they are being made to take responsibility for Government bungling.

Andrew Carter, alternate leader of Leeds City Council, warned it was "nothing more than a crude amnesty".