MORE migrants are claiming to be modern slaves to try to dodge deportation — with cases rocketing 250 per cent in four years.
Thousands are trying to game the system to get asylum by using laws “designed to protect those who have suffered unimaginable exploitation”.
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Yet a growing chunk of the often 11th hour claims are now rejected by courts as they have no evidence to support them, official figures show.
Of last year’s 4,646 modern slavery referrals — 250 per cent more than the 1,307 in 2020 — almost two thirds (66 per cent) fell at the first hurdle.
The claims, against a far lower 16 per cent four years earlier, were found to have no “reasonable grounds”, suggesting a jump in dubious claims.
The Sun on Sunday understands that a convicted rapist claimed to be a modern slavery victim moments before boarding a deportation flight.
He was allowed off and his removal was delayed.
An Albanian put in four appeals under the 2015 Modern Slavery Act, the last minutes before he was due to step onto a removal flight.
His removal was also held up.
One unscrupulous legal firm stopped the deportation of three separate individuals, by claiming that they all had PTSD.
Each had identical medical forms and diagnosis from the same doctor.
Their removals were delayed.
A last-minute modern slavery claim almost derailed Britain’s “one-in, one-out” deportation deal with France this week.
An Eritrean man tried it just hours before he was to be flown out on Thursday despite never having mentioned it before.
He was kicked out the next day.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has rewritten guidance in order to curb last-minute appeals thwarting deportations, said: “This week, we sent the first small boat migrants back to France. While this was just a first step, it was a historic one. But this historic moment was also a difficult one. We were disrupted by last-minute legal challenges, some of which abused our modern slavery system.
“These laws were designed to protect those who have suffered unimaginable exploitation. But migrants suddenly deciding they are a modern slave on the eve of their removal, having never made such a claim before, make a mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity.”
She is facing fresh pressure after one of this year’s highest daily migrant arrivals figures on Friday.
Ms Mahmood is considering whether she needs to overhaul modern slavery laws altogether.
That could spark a backlash among Labour MPs who slammed the Tories when they proposed changes.
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