But Mr Philp said it had “unwittingly turned into one of the biggest loopholes in our immigration system, allowing illegal immigrants and foreign criminals to remain in the UK”. He added: “Immigration lawyers know they don’t have to provide any real evidence – just offer a vaguely plausible story that is roughly consistent with known modern slavery patterns and it will be accepted. “In some cases they even submitted copy and paste claims for different customers without even bothering to change the details. It mocks our good will. I saw every case where serious foreign criminals – including sadistic rapists and brutal murderers – used claims of modern slavery at the last minute to avoid deportation back home.” It comes after evidence emerged last week of Albanians taking advantage of modern slavery laws. They are the largest nationality to claim slavery, while record numbers of Albanians are arriving in the UK on illegal Channel crossings. Mr Philp said the revelation prompted him to lift the lid on the scams as someone who had “seen it play out in thousands of cases” when an immigration minister. “Unfortunately, successive governments have been persuaded by self-appointed activists to lower the bar of proof to accept a claim of modern slavery to an absurdly low level,” he added. The numbers allowed to stay rose from 3,000 in 2015 to 16,000 this year, of which 90 per cent were approved because of “lax” rules, he said, meaning foreign criminals could not be removed from the UK even if they had commit murder. or rape. He said claims of modern slavery were “commonly” made by Channel migrants despite having told immigration officers on arrival that they were not victims of slavery, adding: “The claim was usually made shortly after meeting with an immigration lawyer ».
