11 things we've learned about Tory asylum chaos amid small boats fiasco
Damning new figures reveal the scale of the UK's asylum system shambles - with over 175,000 people forced to live in limbo as the backlog reached a record level.
Under-fire Suella Braverman's handling of the Home Office was labelled "disastrous" as costs spiralled and arrivals outstripped the number of decisions reached. The asylum system now costs almost £4billion a year - up from £500million a decade ago and almost double what it did a year ago.
In the year to June there were 78,768 asylum applications - relating to 97,390 people - but just 23,702 initial decisions. Four in 10 asylum seekers arrived by small boat in that time as the Government grapples with Rishi Sunak's pledge to stop dangerous Channel crossings.
The data reveals seven people from Rwanda were granted protection last year, despite the Government heading for a court showdown claiming it is a safe country. And experts fear Home Office handling of the crisis means people are being "pushed underground".
Here we look at some of the key things we've learned from the latest figures.
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Nearly 80,000 applications but just 24,000 decisions
The number of asylum applications has rocketed in recent yearsThere were 78,768 asylum applications - relating to over 93,000 people - in the year to June. This is a whopping 19% higher than the previous year, and tops the number at the height of the European migration crisis in 2015-16, when 36,546 people applied.
And the Government just isn't keeping up. In that 12 months there were 23,702 initial decisions made on asylum applications. In fairness to the Home Office this is 61% higher than in the previous year, but it's not nearly high enough to clear the backlog.
Cost of asylum system nearly doubled in a year
Today's figures show that Home Office spending on asylum in the UK in 2022/23 stood at £3.97 billion - nearly double the £2.12 billion the year before..
A decade ago, in 2012/13, the total stood at £500.2 million. At the end of June 50,546 asylum seekers were in hotels, while 62,728 were in 'other' accommodation. An additional 4,176 people were receiving subsistence support only.
The Government says it's spending more than £6million a day on hotels as Ms Braverman gets increasingly desperate. A 500-capacity barge, the Bibby Stockholm, is currently sitting empty in Portland, Dorset, after Legionella bacteria was found onboard, while the Home Secretary has also mooted forcing people into marquees.
Four in 10 asylum seekers arriving by small boat
In the the 12 months to the end of June, the Home Office said 52,530 people entered the UK by "irregular" means. Of these, 85% came via small boats.
Small boat arrivals accounted for 41% of all asylum claims, with 1,000 boats detected in that time. But just 1% of people who made the dangerous crossing over the Channel had received a first decision by June.
The number of crossings has rocketed in recent years. In 2018, when they started being recorded, there were 299. This rose to 1,843 the following year, and in 2022 there were 45,774. There had been 11,433 by June this year, but this number has since passed 18,000.
Rishi Sunak has pledged to stop the boats - but wouldn't say when he'd achieve this (AP)Afghan nationals most represented in small boat arrivals this year
So far in 2023, Afghan nationals are the most represented among those arriving by small boat with over 1,400. Asylum seekers from Iran, India and Syria also arrived in their hundreds, while 385 were known to have come from Sudan, where war broke out in April.
Following the start of the bloodshed, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said he anticipated more the number of Sudanese arrivals to go up. But the Government has refused to introduced a Ukraine-style programme to offer sanctuary.
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Asylum seekers from Rwanda raise questions over safety
So far in 2023, the Home Office data shows, 13 people from Rwanda have applied for asylum in the UK. In the first six months of the year no decisions were made on Rwandan claims - although one application was withdrawn. However in 2022 seven Rwandan asylum seekers were granted protection.
The Government has maintained that the central African nation is safe as it ploughs ahead with plans to send asylum seekers there. But the fact it is approving asylum claims from Rwandans brings this into question.
Earlier this week The Mirror reported that dozens of people from Rwanda had been granted asylum under the Tories. Steve Smith, chief executive of refugee charity Care4Calais said: “The Government’s claim that Rwanda is a ‘safe country’ to which we should send asylum seekers has always been pure conjecture on their part. The fact that Home Office decision makers have been granting asylum to Rwandans, whilst Ministers have been spinning their ‘cash for humans’ deal in the media, blows their argument apart."
Safe routes for Afghans not working
Worrying analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that 14 times more Afghan nationals arrived by small boat than via the scheme set up to help them. In the first half of 2023, just 101 came to the UK through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme., it found.
In stark contrast 1,474 people from Afghanistan reached the UK by small boat. The scheme was set up last year to offer safe passage for people who assisted UK efforts in the country, or those who stood up for democracy, women’s rights and freedom of speech. It was also designed to help vulnerable people at risk of persecution under the Taliban.
The IPPR said it showed resettlement is happening "at an extremely low rate".
Fears people being 'pushed underground' by Home Office
One thing that stands out from the figures is that the number of withdrawn applications has rocketed in a year. This is cause for serious concern, experts say.
Withdrawals now account for 47% of initial asylum decisions. In its snap analysis the IPPR said: "This risks pushing people underground and into the informal economy, while creating more work for the Home Office in the long run as people make fresh asylum claims."
And Christina Marriott, from the British Red Cross, said she is "increasingly concerned" that withdrawals are three times higher than last year.. She said: "This is the highest number of withdrawals seen since records began. The reasons for this are unclear, but the government needs to urgently review its efforts to reduce the backlog and publish data on why vulnerable people’s claims are being withdrawn.”
Over 70% of decisions in favour of asylum seekers
The Home Secretary has long maintained that the majority of people who claim asylum do not have a genuine claim. In November, when she made her vile "invasion" remarks in the Commons, she urged MPs to "stop pretending that they are all refugees in distress".
But despite her hardline stance, 71% of initial decisions on asylum applications in the year to June 2023 were grants of refugee status, humanitarian protection or alternative forms of leave. This has gone up dramatically since the pre-pandemic years, officials said.
Safe and legal route calls unanswered
Campaigners have called on the Government to extend safe and legal routes to people fleeing persecution around the world. Ms Braverman was famously unable to say how a refugee from an unnamed East African state could claim asylum in a heated exchange with a Tory backbencher last year.
The latest figures show that 154,254 people were offered a safe and legal route to the UK in June 2023. However this is not evenly distributed around the world, and the Government has rejected calls to provide such a route for Sudanese people after the outbreak of war in their homeland.
The lion's share of those offered sanctuary in this way came from Ukraine after Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion. And a further 43,000 were granted visas from Hong Kong. The Home Office breakdown reveals:
- 102,807 people granted Ukraine Visa and Extension Schemes visas
- 43,368 people granted Hong Kong BN(O) visas
- 4,671 people granted Family Reunion visas
- 3,408 people resettled and relocated, including 2,570 under Afghan schemes
Almost all applicants from some countries allowed to stay
The number of applications approved varied greatly between nationalitiesToday's figures show that nearly all asylum applications from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Syria are granted at initial decision. And 85% of Sudanese and 76% of Iranian applicants have their claims approved.
In stark contrast just 6% of asylum seekers from India were successful, and over 80% of Albanian nationals had their claims turned down.
More than 50% of appeals result in call for rethink
There were 4,300 appeals lodged against Home Office decisions in the year to March 2023. Of those determined, 53% were allowed byHM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).
This means the Home Office was asked to reconsider their decision. The proportion of appeals allowed has risen from 29% in 2010.
What the Home Office says
A Home Office spokesman defended the figures - saying progress on the backlog has been made since the figures were compiled.
He said: “The most up-to-date figures, released earlier this month, show that the total backlog of asylum cases has fallen to the end of July 2023, a month beyond what the statistics released today cover. We are also on track to clear the 'legacy' asylum backlog by the end of this year.
"The latest statistics show this has already been reduced by over 28,000 cases since the end of December 2022, with more than 25% of these being made in the last two months. The number of decisions being made overall is also up by 61% and we continue to double the number of caseworkers to further speed up the system as well using asylum questionnaires in appropriate cases to simplify the decision-making process.”
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