Foreigners are responsible for one out of every five slayings in England and Wales, police figures reported by the Daily Mail reveal.

In one area of London, the figure is one in three.This is despite the fact that foreigners represent only around one in 16 of the general population.The statistics are so alarming that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will hold a migrant crime summit on Thursday amid worries that police are struggling to cope.According to figures revealed under the Freedom of Information Act, the 96 foreign nationals convicted of homicide last year were from 28 different countries.

Foreign nationals—including killers like Angolan refugee Roberto Malasi, who stabbed a pastor’s daughter to death for supposedly “disrespecting” him—account for 21 percent of the total 461 murder and manslaughter cases in Britain, the Mail said today.

Critics blame the government’s failure to deport foreign criminals. Recent cases have involved foreigners who had already been convicted of robbery and assault but were allowed to remain after serving their sentences. …In many cases, the figures reflect the influence of immigrant crime gangs. Scotland Yard said half of the organized crime gangs in London are “ethnic,” or bound by a common language or homeland. The most common nationalities for foreign killers were Pakistani, Indian and Jamaican. Foreigners were also more likely to be victims. …The revelations are likely to feature on the agenda for Thursday’s summit, which was called by the Home Office earlier this year. It is the first of its kind, and follows letters of concern from chief constables.Cambridgeshire’s Julie Spence warned as long ago as 2005 there was “community tension” involving migrants which had the “potential for large-scale public disorder.”She was forced to write again last year, saying the problem had “clearly magnified.” …A Home Office spokesman said: “Last year, we deported a record number of foreign national criminals. Anyone convicted of a serious crime, such as murder, will be automatically deported.”

For more on violent crime and its future, read “The End of American Crime.”