EMBARGOED TO 2230 SUNDAY JANUARY 4 File photo dated 07/11/25 of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat in Gravelines, France. Mobile phones and Sim cards will be seized from migrants without needing to arrest them from Monday as part of efforts to tackle Channel crossings and people smugglers. Issue date: Sunday January 4, 2026. PA Photo. Officers will begin taking electronic devices from people at Manston processing centre in Kent, with technology on site to download data from them in a bid to gather intelligence on people smugglers. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA WireCredit: PAA TEAM OF 65 civil servants is tasked with tracking down more than 53,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals who have gone on the run, The Sun can reveal.
chiefs said there is a dedicated team trying to find absconders who have breached the time allowed in the UK or foreign crooks who should be deported.
Thousands of people have arrived in the UK then disappeared from Home Office accommodationCredit: PA
The group is boosted by other investigators working in Migration and Border controls, a minister has also said.
It comes after a leaked document from October last year said there were 53,298 migrants who have breached their bail or escaped from detention whose whereabouts are unknown.
There are also a further 736 who have also absconded and gone missing after being released from or from detention, according to the data.
The statistics were sent to Independent MP Rupert Lowe by a whistleblower.
The Home Office refused to confirm if they were correct, but they are similar to when similar data was made publicly available in 2016.
At that time there were almost 60,000 people missing from the system.
Mr Lowe said: “Our whistleblower investigations have revealed that there are 53,298 absconded illegal migrants, and 736 missing foreign criminals.
“This is a national security emergency. 65 staff is pathetic and woefully short – we need thousands on it.
“Every single illegal migrant needs to be rounded up and removed from our country. That is absolutely non-negotiable for the British people.”
Details of the 65-strong team were uncovered in response to a Parliamentary question submitted by Lowe.
Home Office Minister Alex Norris said in response: “The Home Office has a range of tools to trace those who abscond, the number of staff involved in tracing activity varies across Immigration Enforcement depending on operational need, with c.65 staff currently dedicated to tracing activities, aswell as resources elsewhere within the Migration and Borders System, who are responsible for recording information when individuals are found or come back into contact.
“The number of absconders recorded on Home Office systems can fluctuate and there are no formal targets linked to a reduction in the number.
“The Home Office works closely with the , other government agencies, commercial companies and international partners to trace absconders and bring them back into contact.
“Where new contact details are found we will consider the most appropriate intervention for the person including arrest and detentionible for recording information when individuals are found or come back into contact.”
He was unable to provide a cost of the operation as it would require collating information across databases.
The Home Office was contacted for comment.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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