New government figures show that bogus asylum seekers are costing Essex taxpayers more than £677,711 a year, amounting to £1.38 per household, says West Chelmsford MP Simon Burns.
This amounted to the equivalent of providing 19 extra police officers at a time when the numbers of police in Essex had fallen, he added.
"Under Labour the number of bogus asylum seekers is soaring and the residents of Essex are paying the price. Sadly, this country has become a soft touch for bogus asylum seekers - a soft touch for the organised asylum rackets who are flooding our country.
"Clearly we must provide a safe haven for genuine refugees but sadly the huge majority who come here to claim asylum are not genuine refugees but bogus economic migrants."
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