By Vivienne Russell | 23 July 2012
Failings at the UK Border Agency have made immigration in the UK resemble the ‘Bermuda Triangle’ – easy to get in, but impossible to keep track of anyone afterwards – MPs said today.
In another excoriating report into failings at the troubled agency, the Commons home affairs select committee said there were 276,460 cases awaiting a UKBA decision. ‘This backlog is now equivalent to the entire population of Newcastle upon Tyne,’ committee chair Keith Vaz said. ‘It will take years to clear.’
He added: ‘The agency seems to have acquired its own Bermuda triangle. It’s easy to get in, but near impossible to keep track of anyone, let along get them out.’
The select committee is currently monitoring the agency on a four-monthly basis and setting out actions that need to be taken. The MPs’ latest report, published today, covers the period from December 2011 to March 2012.
Other areas highlighted in the report included the slow processing of new asylum cases, which MPs warned could lead to a new backlog.
The report noted that 3,900 foreign national prisoners were living in the community and needed to be deported. It criticised the agency’s failure to work closely with the National Offender Management Service when foreign nationals are sentenced.
There was also a call for UKBA senior managers to return their bonuses. Vaz said: ‘The committee reiterates its recommendations made last year that bonuses should not be paid to senior staff until this organisation carries out the intentions of Parliament. Those who have received bonuses since that time must return them.’
Other recommended actions include: deportation proceedings for foreign national prisoners to begin at the time of sentencing; face-to-face interviews for all foreign students; and more databases to be checked to assist with the tracing of individuals in the controlled archive.
Failings at the UK Border Agency have made immigration in the UK resemble the ‘Bermuda Triangle’ – easy to get in, but impossible to keep track of anyone afterwards – MPs said today.
In another excoriating report into failings at the troubled agency, the Commons home affairs select committee said there were 276,460 cases awaiting a UKBA decision. ‘This backlog is now equivalent to the entire population of Newcastle upon Tyne,’ committee chair Keith Vaz said. ‘It will take years to clear.’He added: ‘The agency seems to have acquired its own Bermuda triangle. It’s easy to get in, but near impossible to keep track of anyone, let along get them out.’
The select committee is currently monitoring the agency on a four-monthly basis and setting out actions that need to be taken. The MPs’ latest report, published today, covers the period from December 2011 to March 2012.
Other areas highlighted in the report included the slow processing of new asylum cases, which MPs warned could lead to a new backlog.
The report noted that 3,900 foreign national prisoners were living in the community and needed to be deported. It criticised the agency’s failure to work closely with the National Offender Management Service when foreign nationals are sentenced.
There was also a call for UKBA senior managers to return their bonuses. Vaz said: ‘The committee reiterates its recommendations made last year that bonuses should not be paid to senior staff until this organisation carries out the intentions of Parliament. Those who have received bonuses since that time must return them.’
Other recommended actions include: deportation proceedings for foreign national prisoners to begin at the time of sentencing; face-to-face interviews for all foreign students; and more databases to be checked to assist with the tracing of individuals in the controlled archive.
