Thousands of migrants are falsely claiming to be victims of modern slavery in an attempt to avoid deportation as cases have soared by 250 per cent in just four years.
They have been accused of trying to game the system to claim asylum in the UK, using laws which are designed to protect victims of ‘unimaginable exploitation’.
A growing number of the claims, often made at the 11th hour to try and prevent deportations, have no evidence to support them.
One of the dubious claims was made by a convicted rapist shortly before boarding a deportation flight, The Sun on Sunday reported.
His removal was subsequently delayed.
Last year there were 4,646 modern slavery referrals, compared to 1,307 in 2020.
Of those claims, 65 per cent were found to have ‘no reasonable grounds’, a huge increase from 16 per cent four years ago.
In another case, an Albanian migrant put in four appeals under the Modern Slavery Act before he was due to board a removal flight. His deportation was also delayed.
A growing number of illegal migrants have been accused of trying to game the system to claim asylum in the UK
One legal firm was behind stopping three separate individuals being deported, claiming they all had PTSD.
Each one had identical medical forms signed by one doctor. Their deportations were also delayed.
Keir Starmer’s one in, one out policy came under fire this week after more than a thousand people crossed the English Channel on small boats on Friday.
Home Office figures showed 1,072 made the journey in 13 boats.
Reform leader Farage took to social media on Friday to criticise the Government’s new move, lamenting that ‘[three] illegal migrants have now been returned to France but over 1,000 arrived today alone‘, adding that ‘the invasion is getting bigger’.
Ministers hope the ‘one in, one out’ deal with France will act as a deterrent, showing migrants they face being sent back if they travel across the Channel.
But the scale of Friday’s crossings suggested the policy was so far having little effect on those gathered on the beaches of northern France.
The third person sent back was an Iranian man who was returned to France on Friday.
Migrants picked up at sea attempting to cross the English Channel from France, disembark from a Border Force vessel after it arrived at the Marina in Dover, south-east England, on September 15, 2025
It followed the removal of an Eritrean man earlier on Friday after he lost a High Court bid to halt his removal, and the deportation of an Indian national on Thursday.
Starmer’s government faces mounting pressure to stop small boats taking asylum seekers across the Channel from Europe, a route by which more than 30,000 people have come so far in 2025.
The first flights carrying asylum seekers from France to the UK under the reciprocal aspect of the deal are expected to take place next week.
Although they would not comment on numbers, a Home Office source said they were expected to be ‘at or close to parity’, given the ‘one in, one out’ nature of the deal.
Ministers have praised the returns, with Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy saying they provided an ‘immediate deterrent’ to people seeking to cross the Channel.
The Government intends to increase the number of people being sent back under the pilot deal over the coming months.
The deal with France means people who arrive in the UK by small boat can be detained and returned across the Channel, in exchange for an equivalent number of people who applied through a safe and legal route.
But shadow home secretary Chris Philp attacked the deal as providing ‘no deterrent effect whatsoever’, describing the numbers returned as ‘pathetic’ and saying ‘boasting about it is absurd’.
Home Office sources pointed to the fact these were forcible returns, and drew comparisons with the previous government’s deal with Rwanda – scrapped by Labour – that saw four volunteers go to the east African nation over two years.
