REVEALED: Staggering number in Britain’s detention centres at eye-watering cost to UK taxpayers

The cost of detaining asylum seekers has drawn particular ire from the British public who were told pensioners were being stripped of their winter fuel payment because there is not enough money to support them.

Albania was the most commonly represented nationality with 6,031 Albanians being detained in the UK last year, the Home Office’s latest statistics show.

There was a rise in numbers of Romanian and Brazilian nationals entering detention in 2024 too, whose numbers increased by around a third (32 per cent and 34 per cent respectively) during the year.

Another trend revealed in the data came from the locations of where asylum seekers are being held. Previously, prisons took on hundreds of asylum seekers, but due to capacity issues it is now detention centres housing the bulk of migrants.

These centres are dotted around Britain, from Gatwick in Surrey to Derwentside in County Durham.

This map shows Immigration Removal Centres (IRC), but Short-Term Holding Facilities (STHF) and Pre-departure Accommodation (PDA) is also included in the ‘detention estate’.

Immigration removal centres - Google My Maps

It comes after the same statistics found 37,000 people had entered Britain via small boat in 2024, a rise of 25 per cent on 2023.

It means over 100 people a day arrived on England’s coastline in small boats last year.

The headline stat will come as a blow to Keir Starmer whose pledge to ‘smash the gangs’ to curb immigration appears to have had little effect.

It also appears to vindicate Rishi Sunak somewhat whose Rwanda relocation scheme was immediately scrapped as a 'gimmick' by Starmer.

However, 2024’s figures are still lower than the 2022 when a record 46,000 people arrived via small boat (126 people a day).

The 37,000 figure is part of a wider 44,000 people who ‘arrived irregularly’, such as in a lorry or by boat, which is a rise of 19 per cent on 2023.

The most common nationality of these irregular arrivals was Afghani, though the 6,339 Afghani arrivals was actually lower than the 9,100 Afghans who arrived in 2022.

Since January 2018, 70 per cent of people detected arriving irregularly have been adult males aged 18 and over.

Since 2018, just under one-fifth (18 per cent) of detected irregular arrivals have been children aged 17 and under.

Other nationalities who made up the highest number of people coming to the UK included Iran, Eritrea, Syria, Albania, Iraq and Sudan.

In terms of deportations, the Home Office figures remained low but were trending upwards.

In 2024 there were just 8,200 enforced returns, but that was an increase of 28 per cent on the previous year.

Albanians were the most common nationality for enforced returns in 2024, followed by Romanians, Brazilians, Poles and Lithuanians.

There were 5,000 Foreign National Offenders (FNO) returns made in 2024; an increase of a quarter compared to the previous year.

Albanians made up the greatest number of foreign criminals, followed by Romanians, Poles, Lithuanians and Bulgarians.

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In good news for immigration sceptics, there were 25,186 voluntary returns last year, up by 24 per cent compared to 2023.

GB News Home and Security Editor Mark White has criticised the Home Office for rebranding "illegal migration" as "irregular migration" in its latest figures.

"How many have come to the UK irregularly? Irregular routes, well, illegal routes. Come on, British Government, we know exactly what you mean," said White.

He accused officials of "pussyfooting around" with terminology.

"Irregular means illegal," White stated bluntly in his assessment of the government's new phrasing.

The Home Office has been approached for comment.