MORE than 17,000 migrants have vanished without trace, bungling Home Office bosses admitted yesterday.
Sheepish civil servant Sir Matthew Rycroft and his sidekick Simon Ridley revealed they have lost track of them.
MPs laid into the “clueless” mandarins as they floundered their way through a gruelling Commons grilling.
The pair were quizzed on the 17,316 asylum seekers whose claims were withdrawn last year because they failed to turn up to their interviews or stopped engaging.
Pressed on their whereabouts, Mr Ridley said: “In most cases, I don’t know where those people are.”
Incredulous Tory MP Tim Loughton hit out: “So you have no idea where those 17,316 people are?”
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The majority of asylum seekers are not detained meaning they are free to roam so long as they check in with the Home Office regularly.
New powers to detain and then remove illegal migrants are yet to be used because of the Rwanda plan being hamstrung by the courts.
Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock said: “Home Office officials let the cat out of the bag that under the Tories 17,000 asylum seekers have gone missing.”
The Whitehall chiefs also came unstuck when asked how many small boat arrivals had been sent back in the last three years.
When they could not answer, Red Wall Rottweiler Lee Anderson blasted: “I’m sorry, chair, but I find it absolutely staggering that the big boss hasn’t got a clue, not just on this question, but on nearly every other question we’ve asked today. Why is that?”
Labour’s Home Affairs Committee chair Dame Diana Johnson piled in: “Do we have any figures about anything?”
Sir Matthew did suggest that Britain was sending Rwanda more cash in addition to the £140million already paid.
Despite no flights taking off, the Home Office permanent secretary confirmed “there are additional payments each year” but would only be revealed once a year.
Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the revelation was “astonishing”.
Sir Matthew said officials are putting the “finishing touches” on the new treaty with Kigali which Rishi Sunak hopes will get removal flights going.
