Almost 2,000 fraudulent identity documents used by illegal migrants to try to enter the UK are discovered by Border Force every year, figures show.
Between 2010 and 2020 it recorded 21,256 “fraudulent” ID documents, for which there is a maximum penalty of ten years in jail.
The Liverpool bomber, Emad Al Swealmeen, used a false Jordanian passport to enter the UK in 2014.
Almost half of all false ID documents detected at the border are from Europe, according to the figures, which were released under a freedom of information request by Migration Watch UK, which campaigns for lower immigration.
The UK stopped accepting EU identity cards as proof of identity in October last year, and the Home Office said that that would help to prevent illegal migrants entering the country with fraudulent ID cards. It has refused to say how many are caught each year.
The new figures show a peak of fake documents in the two years before the EU referendum in 2016. Border Force found 2,134 fake documents in 2019, before a drop in the pandemic. What qualifies as a “deceptive” document varies, from falsifying passports and ID cards to mistakes on application forms, such as giving wrong answers about previous refusals or immigration history. If the mistake is interpreted by officials as an attempt to mislead or deceive, the application will be refused.
Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “The absence of genuine documents, and even lying to an official, makes little difference to whether an illegal entrant will be allowed to stay . . . This absurd situation won’t change until failure by applicants to present proper evidence of who they are leads to asylum or other protection being denied.”
Immigration lawyers say that even typos, such as listing an annual income as £40,000 instead of £4,000 when the latter number is supported throughout the application, can be seen by some Border Force officials as deception.
The Home Office said: “People using false documents will be refused entry to the UK . . . Through the New Plan for Immigration we will be implementing an electronic travel authorisation scheme . . . to block the entry of those who present a threat to the UK.”
