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Written question asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour) on Monday, 13 November 2017, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 November 2017. It was answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford (Conservative) on Monday, 27 November 2017 on behalf of the Home Office.

Undocumented Migrants

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals they estimate to be in the United Kingdom illegally.

Answer

Any estimate of the exact size of the illegal population is extremely difficult and there would be considerable uncertainty around it.

Exit checks were introduced in April 2015 and are, over time, providing more detailed insights into the behaviour of migrants and how they comply with the restrictions placed upon their length of stay in the UK, but the data obtained does not provide the total number of illegal migrants in the UK. Instead of producing inaccurate numbers, the Government is focused on making it harder for people to live in the UK illegally.

The International Passenger Survey is the responsibility of the Office for National Statistics and does not provide estimates of the size of the illegal population.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL3149
Session
2017-19
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Undocumented migrants
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk