Ministers accused of a 'cover-up' as number of crimes by foreigners is hidden - to protect their rights

Published: 19:15 EST, 14 November 2026 | Updated: 19:15 EST, 14 November 2026 Ministers were last night accused of a 'cover-up' after refusing to disclose bombshell foreign national crime figures because it would breach the criminals' data protection rights.Under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, The Centre for Migration Control (CMC) think-tank asked the Ministry of Justice to reveal the number of convictions for 2025, broken down by nationality and offences.The Government rejected the request, claiming that it could lead to the 'identification of the individuals concerned'.In an astonishing response seen by The Mail on Sunday, an official from the Ministry of Justice's 'Analysis Directorate' wrote: 'On balance the interests of the data subjects to safeguard personal information outweigh the legitimate interest in this case.'The MoJ is already seeking to overturn the Information Commissioner's ruling that data revealing the full scale of foreign offending in England and Wales from 2018 to '24 should be published. It means data related to hundreds of thousands of offences committed by foreign nationals is kept under wraps.CMC research director Robert Bates said: 'It is outrageous that the Government is putting the data protection rights of foreign national offenders ahead of the British public. We have a right to know the impact mass migration is having on public safety.'The extraordinary lengths being taken to conceal the truth suggest the Government knows there is a major problem but is more concerned about the public finding out than taking meaningful steps to tackle migrant crime.' A prison officer is pictured in HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow (file photo)In stark contrast, Denmark and some US states publish migrant crime data by nationality.UK data is recorded on the Police National Computer. Some of it has been published before but only split into broad offence groups, such as 'violent' or 'sexual' crime.Those figures showed foreign nationals accounted for 14.1 per cent of sex offence convictions last year. The latest FOI request sought a breakdown of the data within each broad offence category. This would reveal within sex offences the number of rapes and child sex abuse cases, while for violence against the person it would show the number of murders and manslaughters. Mr Bates added: 'The country deserves to know how many of the most serious crimes are by people who should not be in our country.'The Government said: 'We have prioritised deportation of foreign national offenders with nearly 12,000 removed since July 2024 – up 41 per cent – and have changed the law so foreign prisoners can be deported earlier than ever.'