Illegal migrants can enter the UK and can claim asylum for as little as £2,600, an FOI request has revealed.
Data from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), exclusively seen by GB News, has disclosed the cost of Clapham chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi’s asylum fees.
The eye-watering cost comes after the Home Office confirmed today that 62,336 people were given refugee status or protection following an asylum application last year, the highest record ever recorded.
Ezedi entered the UK in 2016 and applied for asylum from the Home Office two times before his application was approved in 2020. The combined cost of those applications between the four-year period is £2,635.20.
An FOI request seen by GB News has revealed that illegal migrants can enter the UK and can claim asylum for as little as £2,600
Getty/Met Police
In total, over £5,000 was spent on legal aid for Edezi, who was convicted of two sexual assault charges in 2018 in Newcastle.
Alongside the taxpayer money spent on his entrance to the UK, £2,394.91 was spent on his trial at crown court, GB News can reveal.
An additional £160 was spent on the 33-year-old whilst he was held in a police station.
After being convicted of sexual offences, Edezi, whose body was discovered in the River Thames last week, was given a suspended sentence and placed on the sex offender register for 10 years.
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Abdul Ezedi's body was found in the River Thames last week
Metropolitan PoliceThe MoJ said: “Anyone facing a Crown Court trial is eligible for legal aid, subject to a strict means test. Depending on their means, applicants for criminal legal aid can be required to pay contributions up to the entire cost of the defence if they are convicted with at least one offence with which they are charged.”
They added: “Where an individual receives civil legal aid, they may be liable to repay the cost of their legal aid in circumstances where they recover or preserve money or property as a result of having legal aid.”
The MoJ confirmed that legal aid is not paid directly to Defendants, instead being paid to solicitors and barristers for legal representation for the trial.
The Home Office confirmed today that 62,336 people were given refugee status or protection following an asylum application last year
PAThe Government departments said that legal aid in a magistrates’ court is given depending on an individual’s means.
Ezedi was suspected to have thrown a corrosive substance over a mother and her two children in Clapham on January 31.
A manhunt was launched following the attack and an investigation led detectives to believe Ezedi had entered the River Thames at Chelsea Bridge. His body was recovered on February 20.
The migration statistics that were published this morning, show that health and care visas for foreign workers have almost doubled to 146,477 in the last year.
Family members joining their relatives via this route accounted for 73 per cent of the 279,131 work dependent visas that were granted in the year up to December 2023, new figures from the Home Office show.
Suella Braverman has slammed the latest migration statistics, dubbing it a “national disaster”.
She urged the Government to do more to cut down on arrivals to the UK, warning: “We don’t have enough homes, GPs or schools to support this level.”