The government can be sure of the whereabouts of only 25% of the estimated 200,000-250,000 failed asylum seekers currently in Britain

Alan Travis:

Sir John Gieve, the outgoing permanent secretary at the Home Office, also said he would not "bet his mortgage" on the government meeting the prime minister's December deadline for ensuring that the number of rejected asylum seekers removed from the country each month exceeded the number of new claims.

Speaking to the Commons all-party public accounts committee, Jeremy Oppenheim of the National Asylum Seeker Support Service said the Home Office knew the addresses of "nearly all" the families whose claims for asylum had been rejected because they were claiming benefits. But he admitted that such families comprised "probably about 25%" of the 200,000 to 250,000 rejected asylum seekers now living in the country.

Sir John Gieve said that while the Home Office had addresses for the remaining 75%, it was impossible to guarantee they would be there when immigration enforcement officers called. He also told MPs that although the immigration service was "on the verge" of meeting the government's asylum deportations target set by Tony Blair he could not guarantee that it would be met by December.

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