Migrants using ECHR to avoid deportation will cost £4.9billion as claims skyrocket under Labour

Migrants who use the European Convention on Human Rights to stay in the UK last year will cost the taxpayer £4.9billion over their lifetimes, the Home Office has admitted.

Statisticians in the Home Office estimated the cost of granting a migrant the chance to remain because of their right to a family life was £141,000 per individual over their lifetime.

The calculation, which has been described as the first of its kind, also took into account that asylum seekers would eventually pay taxes.

Around 34,400 asylum seekers were granted the right to stay in the UK under Article 8 last year.

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The total net cost to the taxpayer covered funding for healthcare, education, welfare and pensions.

However, the total bill could cost even more, as researchers did not take into account family members.

The Home Office said: “It does not include the fiscal impact of dependants associated with the cohort.

"It should therefore not be interpreted as the total fiscal cost of all individuals linked to Article 8 grants in 2025."

The announcement came as Labour prepares to unveil new restrictions on foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers using Article 8 to block attempted deportations.

GB News revealed last week that the Home Office is currently grappling with a surge in Article 8 claims.

A new analysis by the Home Office revealed widespread abuse of human rights laws helped illegal migrants resist removals.

More than 77,000 individuals were allowed to stay in the UK on the basis of an Article 8 claim in 2025, equating to more than half of the 149,000 applications granted for family reasons.

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Reform UK's Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said: “The ECHR allows dangerous foreign criminals to stay in our country – and now it’s clear it’s also costing the country a fortune.

“The Tories refused to leave the ECHR, despite myself and others campaigning to do so.

"Only a Reform Government led by Nigel Farage will do what is required to restore sanity to our immigration system.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp added: "Labour's failure to control our borders is costing taxpayers billions.

"Home Office analysis shows migrants using Article 8 ECHR 'right to family life' claims to stay in Britain will cost taxpayers £4.9billion from just one year's intake.

"We need to stop activist lawyers and foreign courts frustrating removals. Britain should decide who stays here—not the ECHR."

However, the £4.9billion figure is almost equivalent to the £5billion welfare budget cut pencilled in by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last year.

It is also just shy of the £6.2billion Britain will spend building two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers and works out as equivalent to a third of Sir Keir Starmer’s defence investment plan.

The Home Office's modelling, which was devised by its Migration Advisory Committee, made its forecast by assuming they would start on low wages, with up to a third potentially unemployed.

However, the report added: “Migrants are typically more economically active during their working years, while costs associated with healthcare, pensions and wider public services accrue later in life."

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is also now looking at how a new independent body, the Independent Immigration Appeals Authority, will decide asylum appeals instead of judges.

The reforms, which will be introduced in the Immigration and Asylum Bill, will also create a "single route" to prevent migrants from lodging multiple appeals or new claims after an initial rejection.

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