Ministers were today urged to review the immigration system after it was revealed around 283,500 failed asylum seekers may still be in the United Kingdom.
The National Audit Office (NAO) warned that despite increasing spending on removing failed applicants, the Immigration and Nationality Department (IND) was struggling to meet Tony Blair's September 2004 target that by the end of this year the monthly rate of removals should exceed rejected applications.
The report noted that between 1994 and May 2004, some 363,000 asylum applications were rejected. Over the same period the IND said it removed 79,500 failed asylum seekers - giving the 283,500 figure.
Tory MP Edward Leigh, who chairs the Commons public accounts committee - to which the NAO reports - said despite a massive increase in expenditure on immigration enforcement, to £300m a year, the IND "has not yet come close" to meeting its target.
Immigration minister Tony McNulty said: "We have significantly reduced asylum applications and have increased the proportion of failed asylum seekers we return."
