The Home Office has refused to disclose how many deportations have been halted due to appeals made under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Dame Angela Eagle, the border security minister, said it would be a "disproportionate cost" to provide data on deportations of foreign criminals or illegal migrants that had been stopped because of ECHR claims.
The minister explained that the requested information "is not held in a reportable format" and would require a manual review of case records.
Steve Barclay, a former Cabinet minister, had asked in Parliament how many appeals against deportation orders and administrative removal decisions were based on human rights grounds.
Dame Angela Eagle ruled against the releasing of the information
Getty/PA
Barclay said: "We know that illegal migrants and foreign criminals regularly use arguments under the ECHR, such as the 'right to family life' to stay in the UK – and that this has a huge cost to the taxpayer.
"The Government should be monitoring this, but we know they won't want to as they are unwilling to challenge the ECHR."
The question comes amid his calls for Britain to leave the ECHR, following several high-profile cases where migrants won the right to remain in the UK through ECHR appeals.
These include an Albanian criminal who avoided deportation by claiming his son had an aversion to foreign chicken nuggets.
A Pakistani paedophile who was jailed for child sex offences also escaped removal from the UK after arguing it would be "unduly harsh" on his children.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
- Nigel Farage lambasts ‘total abuse of our generosity’ as bearded asylum seeker declared ‘child’ by judges
- Sudanese asylum seeker declared a 'child' by UK judges despite being at least 23 with 'receding hairline' and 'thick facial hair'
- Sri Lankan paedophile allowed to stay in Britain because he is gay and at risk of persecution back home
Steve Barclay called the meeting which was attended by around 300 peoplePABarclay added: "We need to be bold and admit that if we want to get control over small boat arrivals and deporting foreign criminals, it is time the UK left the ECHR."
Last week, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to close a loophole that allowed a Gazan family to enter the UK through a Ukrainian refugee scheme, stating that Parliament, not judges, should make legislation.
Baroness Carr, the Lady Chief Justice and the UK's most senior judge, has criticised Sir Keir's comments about the immigration judge.
"It is for the Government to respect and protect the independence of the judiciary where parties, including the Government, disagree with their findings," she said. Baroness Carr also emphasised that challenges should be made through the appellate process.
Last week, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to close a loophole that allowed a Gazan family to enter the UK through a Ukrainian refugee scheme, stating that Parliament, not judges, should make legislation
PADame Angela Eagle, the border security minister, told The Telegraph: "The requested information is not held in a reportable format.
"To provide this information would require a manual review of case records, and to do so for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost."
