Almost 42,000 UK asylum seekers ready on attraction
Nearly 42,000 asylum seekers are ready for an attraction listening to after the Dwelling Workplace rejected their preliminary claims, in keeping with evaluation of official figures.
The Refugee Council mentioned the quantity is a five-fold improve in two years and the federal government dangers merely transferring the asylum disaster from one a part of the system to a different, with nearly 40,000 migrants nonetheless housed in accommodations.
The Dwelling Workplace mentioned it had doubled the variety of asylum seekers receiving an preliminary resolution on their declare and allotted funding for extra sitting court docket days.
A spokesperson mentioned the federal government stays decided to finish using asylum accommodations over time and reduce the “unacceptably excessive” prices of lodging.
The Refugee Council mentioned extra asylum seekers’ claims are being refused resulting from laws launched by the earlier Conservative authorities, which made it more durable to show real refugee standing.
After the federal government enacted the Nationality and Borders Act, solely 4 in 10 Afghans got permission to remain within the second half of final yr. Beforehand, nearly all Afghans asking for sanctuary have been granted asylum.
Lots of these rejected are thought more likely to be interesting the choice. Presently, Afghans make up the best nationality accommodated in accommodations and people arriving by small boats within the final two years.
The chief government of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, has referred to as for higher and fairer resolution making.
“Proper first-time resolution making will guarantee refugees are given security to go on to contribute to communities throughout the nation and those that haven’t got a proper to remain within the UK are eliminated with dignity and respect,” he mentioned.
The charity factors out that these within the appeals backlog nonetheless require lodging and warns that, with out enhancements, the potential value of accommodations may very well be £1.5bn this yr.
A authorities spokesperson mentioned: “The asylum system we inherited was not match for objective, which is why we’re taking pressing motion to restart asylum processing and clear the backlog of circumstances, which is able to save the taxpayer an estimated £4 billion over the following two years.”
It’s allocating funding for “1000’s extra sitting days within the Immigration and Asylum Chamber to streamline asylum claims and enhance productiveness,” the assertion added.
Statistics from the Ministry of Justice present that on the finish of 2024 there have been 41,987 asylum appeals within the court docket’s backlog, up from 7,173 at the beginning of 2023.
The Refugee Council’s evaluation suggests the entire variety of asylum utility appeals lodged final yr was a 71% improve on 2023.
