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http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003092683,00.html

from Greg Weilo

A RECORD 110,700 asylum seekers - more than the entire British Army - flooded into Britain last year.
Yet only 13,335 were kicked out, shock Home Office figures showed yesterday.
The number of migrants pouring in has more than DOUBLED since Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997.
Britain, which has a 103,000-strong Army, recorded a 20 per cent rise in asylum applications during 2002.
IMMIGRATION is officially out of control, shock figures revealed yesterday.
The news follows repeated warnings by The Sun that Britain must get tough on asylum cheats.
An astonishing 1,000,039 readers have backed our campaign for a crackdown.
And their fears proved justified when the Government revealed that a record 111,000 refugees flooded into Britain last year - an increase of 20 per cent.
Just 13,335 failed asylum seekers were booted out - less than half the target figure of 30,000.
Experts fear the true number of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in Britain could be THREE MILLION.
Former Tory Immigration Minister Timothy Kirkhope said: "The official figure merely shows the number of official asylum applications last year.
"It does not account for the hundreds of thousands of people already in the system or who have slipped through it. I believe that a more accurate estimate could be anything up to three million people. The Government should tell the British people the real scale and cost of the asylum issue."
The response to The Sun's campaign demonstrated the extent of anger over the problem.
Many people are worried that terrorists and agitators have taken advantage of lax controls.
Hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza, 45, caused outrage by delivering sermons of hate against Britain and America - and faces deportation after we revealed he used a sham marriage to enter Britain.
The new figures show asylum seekers have more than doubled since the 45,000 recorded in 1997, the year Tony Blair came to power.
Almost one third of the total number of asylum seekers in the EU travelled to Britain last year.
Nearly all other countries in the union reported record FALLS in applicants.
In Denmark the reduction was a massive 52 per cent. In Holland it was 43 per cent and in Spain 33 per cent.
Only ten per cent of those who arrived here last year were legally entitled to refugee status, according to the Home Office statistics.
But officials granted a further 20,000 exceptional leave to stay under human rights laws.
Almost 90 per cent of those who arrived seeking refugee status are on full benefits at taxpayers' expense.
The cost of dealing with asylum seekers over the past two years has reached a staggering £3.5billion - enough to have built 350 new secondary schools.
Home Secretary David Blunkett's Home Office budget has swollen by £230million to cope with last year's influx.
Even Lord Chancellor Derry Irvine's expenditure is up by £160million - to meet legal costs of appeals.
Sir Andrew Green, of Migrationwatch UK, said yesterday: "No wonder 80 per cent of British people, who have to foot the bill, have said they wish to see a much tougher asylum and immigration regime.
"If the system operated effectively, we could quickly identify those in genuine need and remove those who had no right to be here. We should not be bound by conventions which oblige us to accept people who regard themselves as enemies of Britain."
Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin said: "These are pretty dreadful figures to put it mildly. They represent the bankruptcy of the tactics which the Government has used over the past five years. The only thing to do now is to scrap the entire asylum system and replace it."
Mr Blunkett put a brave face on the figures, insisting they are under control.
He said: "The provisional figures for 2002 are deeply unsatisfactory but no surprise. 2002 was a difficult year, with scores of illegal entrants breaching Channel Tunnel security while trying to smuggle themselves into the UK. We have tackled these problems and are beginning to see results."
Mr Blunkett admitted he could not guarantee to meet Mr Blair's pledge to halve the number of monthly asylum claims - from 8,900 last October to 4,450 by September.
He said: "We are subject to global movements out of our control."
Aides of Mr Blair said he is deeply concerned by the asylum crisis.
They admit the PM has been forced into action by The Sun's hard-hitting campaign.
One senior Downing Street official said last night: "You can rest assured the PM is concentrating on two things, Iraq and asylum.
"These are the two most pressing things. He has been left in no doubt about the feeling in the country."