Most migrants crossing the English Channel to the UK are refugees fleeing persecution, analysis by campaigners suggests.
The research undermines Priti Patel's claims that the asylum system is a "merry-go-round" that has been exploited by applicants.
The Home Secretary last month claimed 70% of those travelling to the UK across the Channel were “not genuine asylum seekers”.
And she said the Government was “concentrating” its efforts on “creating safe passage for genuine refugees”.
But analysis from the Refugee Council shows most migrants crossing the English Channel to the UK are overwhelmingly refugees fleeing persecution.
Using Home Office statistics and data obtained through freedom of information laws, the charity said it found that between January 2020 and June this year, 91% of migrants came from 10 countries where human rights abuses and persecution are common.
They included Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Eritrea and Yemen.
On a visit to Washington on Tuesday, Ms Patel tried to excuse the Government's failings on the asylum system - and appeared to implicate the system.
She said: “It’s a complete merry-go-round and it has been exploited.
“A whole sort of professional legal services industry has based itself on rights of appeal, going to the courts day-in day-out at the expense of the taxpayers through legal aid.
"That is effectively what we need to change.”
The Home Secretary also sought to implicate the asylum system in the Liverpool bombing on Sunday.
Bomber Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, reportedly arrived in the UK from the Middle East in 2014 and had an application for asylum rejected the following year, but was still in the country.
She told reporters: “The case in Liverpool was a complete reflection of how dysfunctional, how broken, the system has been in the past, and why I want to bring changes forward.”
The findings come as one of the Government’s immigration ministers Tom Pursglove and Clandestine Channel Threat Commander Dan O’Mahoney appeared before MPs today.
The Tory MP has admitted UK funding for more French police to stop small boat crossings has not gone far enough as there has been a fivefold increase in clandestine crossings in the last three years.
A record 1,185 people arrived on small boats on Thursday, surpassing the previous high of 853 set earlier this month.
Mr Pursglove has insisted he “will not rest” until migrant crossings are stopped but admitted law enforcement is “crucial” to tackling the issue.
Law Society of England and Wales president, I. Stephanie Boyce, said: “When people are subject to a life or death decision they should have a right of appeal to make sure of a correct outcome.
"People seeking asylum through the UK’s labyrinthine immigration system need the expert advice of lawyers to have their claim properly represented. 55% of claims are accepted at the first pass.
“When it comes to appeals, 48% of these are upheld – clear evidence of poor decision-making by the Home Office and why the right of appeal is so important.
"It is this poor Home Office decision-making coupled with catastrophic delays that are crippling the asylum system."
