Nearly 50,000 people who have had their claims for asylum rejected after arriving by plane are still in Australia awaiting deportation, raising questions over the efficiency of our border controls.

A government backlog is being blamed for the slow progress in tackling the problem, with Labor warning that people smugglers are using the system to exploit illegal workers.

“The rising number of airplane arrivals represents a work scam run by people smugglers, pure and simple,” Senator Kristina Keneally said. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The number of people who have had their claims rejected after arriving by air increased to 46,391 at the end of January, according to government figures that show almost all of them remain in the country.

The long appeals process also means 37,913 of the "plane people" are still waiting for their refugee status to be determined, an increase of more than 1000 over the past month.