Express
February 19, 2014
A RECORD number of foreign criminals successfully used human rights legislation to appeal against deportation last year, figures revealed yesterday.
Home Office data showed that 602 bids to remain in the UK were upheld by immigration courts in the 12 months up to April.
They included 324 offenders who escaped being thrown out of the country on the grounds that deportation could breach their “right to private and family life”.
The figures yesterday ignited fresh anger about the recent failure of an attempt by Tory MPs to tighten up immigration rules to restrict the use of the controversial Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights used for “family life” claims.
Tory backbencher Dominic Raab, whose attempt to amend the Government’s immigration bill to curb use of Article Eight was blocked by Lib Dem and Labour MPs, said: “This abuse of UK border controls by dangerous criminals will only get worse unless we fix the problem.”
Data showed that the 602 total was two higher than in 2010-11.
A total of 113 offenders who were convicted of serious offences, including murder, manslaughter, rape, indecent assault and child sexual abuse were included in the figures for the last financial year.
That figure compared with just 13 in 2008-09 and 82 in 2009-10, the two years before the Coalition came into office.