Most of the 850 migrants who crossed the Channel this year will have claimed asylum

Forty thousand failed asylum seekers are still in the country despite being targeted for removal, according to official figures that one MP called a national disgrace.

The number rose by 15 per cent in the past year as the government came under attack for its “hostile environment” approach to illegal migrants. The policy was fiercely criticised after the Windrush scandal, which exposed the plight of West Indian migrants and their families who were unfairly told to leave.

Immigration experts privately acknowledge that many failed asylum seekers will never depart and eventually receive some form of right to stay. The number of unsuccessful applicants “subject to removal action” rose to 39,932 in the year to June, up from 34,752 a year earlier, according to the Home