More than one in three asylum claims in Britain are being made by illegal immigrations or people who have overstayed their visas. Data supplied by the Home Office reveals that tens of thousands of people claimed asylum in Britain after being caught staying illegally in the country, suggesting widespread abuse of the UK’s asylum system. A total of 36 per cent of asylum applications from 2004 to 2014 were by migrants who had already been resident in Britain, a total of 83,912 out of 231,100 applications. According to The Times, figures also showed many of those migrants who claimed asylum after overstaying had a good chance of receiving it, with 19,200 successfully gaining asylum, or at least being given extra time to stay in Britain. Alp Mehmet, Deputy Chairman of MigrationWatch UK, said: “What these figures show is that having arrived, then by hook or by crook, these people will seek any means possible to stay. “These figures suggest that many of those claiming asylum are in fact economic migrants.” Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, said: “It is deeply concerning that a third of all asylum applications have been made by illegal migrants and overstayers.