Home Office leak shows staggering 53,000 ‘absconder’ illegal migrants currently on the run
A leaked document reveals a staggering number of migrants have vanished, leaving authorities scrambling. The implications are as vast as the numbers themselves.
A migrant tent encampment in France shows how some of those waiting to cross into the UK are living (Image: Getty)
A jaw-dropping 53,298 migrants who breached their immigration bail or fled detention are currently missing, according to a bombshell leaked Home Office document and reported by the Telegraph.
The internal report, titled “absconder pool,” also discloses that an additional 736 foreign offenders have vanished after being released from prison or detention , with most believed to be facing deportation.
The jaw-dropping statistics were obtained by independent MP Rupert Lowe, formerly of Nigel Farage‘s Reform UK party, from a courageous whistleblower, says the report.
Despite the Home Office’s reported refusal to confirm the accuracy of the leaked data, the numbers align with similar findings revealed in a 2016 report by the chief inspector of borders and immigration, which uncovered nearly 60,000 absconders at the time.
Mr Lowe, who represents Great Yarmouth, is now calling on the Home Secretary to take immediate action. “I am calling on the Home Secretary to urgently detail what steps are being taken to apprehend and then deport these criminals. This is a national security emergency, and must be treated as such,” he declared.
Experts highlight ease of disappearing
Tony Smith, the former director-general of Border Force, shed light on the ease with which migrants facing deportation can vanish into thin air. “We haven’t really got to grips with identifying and catching people who are working cash-in-hand here. I know we have right-to-work checks and right-to-rent checks but it is quite easy to lose yourself in the black economy in this country,” he explained.
Smith added, “You are only really going to get caught if you happen to be in a raid when immigration enforcement turn up. They will recognise them as an absconder because they will have been fingerprinted, so your biometric data will be in the system.”
The former Border Force chief suggested that the Home Office should harness the power of technology to track and identify missing migrants through their mobile phones, despite potential human rights concerns. “There is technology we should be exploring to see if there is more we can do in the black economy to identify the people they are employing,” he said.
Dedicated team works to trace absconders
Under Operation Sterling, the Government has invested £5m in Immigration Enforcement to target, arrest, detain, deport and return illegal workers in various industries. The crackdown has led to a 63 per cent increase in arrests year-on-year, with more than 8,000 illegal migrants apprehended in 11,000 raids from October 2024 to September 2025.
A Home Office spokesman highlighted the Government’s efforts, stating, “Under this Government, returns of people with no right to remain in the UK have surged, with almost 50,000 people removed – up 23 per cent. Last week, the Home Secretary announced the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times. These will make Britain a less attractive destination for illegal migrants and will make it easier to remove and deport them.”
The Home Office has a dedicated tracing capability team tasked with working alongside the police, other government agencies, and commercial companies to locate absconders. When contact or location details are obtained, an enforcement team can be deployed to take action.
