Downing Street has insisted that the prime minister has achieved his goal of clearing the legacy backlog of asylum claims, regardless of the federal government’s personal information exhibiting that 4,537 stay.
Rishi Sunak pledged in December 2022 that he would “abolish” the legacy backlog of asylum claims made earlier than 28 June of that yr, with the Home Office being given the goal of the tip of 2023.
On Monday, the division mentioned the pledge had been “delivered”, having processed greater than 112,000 asylum claims general in 2023.
There had been greater than 92,000 asylum claims made earlier than 28 June 2022 requiring a choice, however 4,537 stay, in line with the federal government’s official information.
Speaking to journalists this morning, the prime minister’s spokesperson mentioned the legacy backlog of asylum claims has, the truth is, been cleared as promised as a result of all instances have been reviewed, and the remaining ones merely “require additional work”.
The spokesperson mentioned: “We committed to clearing the backlog, that is what the government has done. We are being very transparent about what that entails.
“We have processed all of these instances and certainly gone additional than the unique dedication. We’re as much as 112,000 selections made general.
“As a result of that process, there are a small minority of cases which are complex and which, because of our rigorous standards, require further work.
“But nonetheless, it’s a vital piece of labor by Home Office officers to course of such large numbers in a brief time period whereas retaining our rigorous security commonplace.”
The authorities has mentioned that the remaining 4,537 extra advanced instances sometimes contain “asylum seekers presenting as children – where age verification is taking place; those with serious medical issues; or those with suspected past convictions, where checks may reveal criminality that would bar asylum”.
However, the CEO of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, mentioned it’s “misleading for the government to claim that the legacy backlog has been cleared as there are thousands still waiting for a decision”.
And Labour’s shadow house secretary Yvette Cooper labelled the declare that the backlog has been cleared “totally false”.
She instructed broadcasters: “They made a whole series of promises about clearing the asylum backlog and they haven’t delivered them.
“Instead, the asylum backlog continues to be almost 100,000 instances, and we have nonetheless acquired hundreds of individuals, file numbers of individuals in asylum motels. So, the federal government’s simply failing on all counts.”
The prime minister’s spokesperson was additionally requested about an obvious suggestion from Home Secretary James Cleverly on LBC radio this morning that the federal government’s objective is to cease small boat crossings totally in 2024.
Downing Street mentioned they’re “not going to set out a deadline”, however mentioned the Rwanda invoice – that is because of return to the Commons “this month” – is a “key part” of stopping small boat crossings.
Mr Cleverly didn’t make the suggestion that boats can be stopped this yr elsewhere, and a supply near him mentioned: “Tackling illegal migration is by virtue of what it is, a product of criminal people smuggling gangs, should always be a mission to zero, and as quickly as possible.
“We’ll do what it takes, utilizing an entire vary of techniques to get to zero to interrupt the enterprise mannequin of those ruthless smugglers who do not care if folks stay or die, simply so long as they pay.”
It comes after Mr Sunak admitted to parliament’s Liaison Committee just before Christmas there is no “agency date” to cease small boat crossings totally.
Up till in the present day, there had been fears for months that the prime minister’s goal wouldn’t be achieved, and in an look earlier than the Commons Liaison Committee in December, the prime minister was unable to say when the remaining general backlog of asylum claims can be cleared.
In February final yr, the Home Office mentioned hundreds of asylum seekers can be despatched questionnaires which might be used to hurry up a choice on their claims, and about 12,000 folks from Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Libya and Yemen, who had utilized for asylum within the UK and had been ready for a choice, had been understood to be eligible underneath the coverage.
In June, the National Audit Office (NAO) mentioned efforts to clear the backlog wanted to considerably enhance to clear the backlog and questioned whether or not the plans had been sustainable.
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The spending watchdog additionally estimated £3.6bn was spent on asylum assist in 2022-23, which amounted to nearly double the earlier yr.
More caseworkers had been tasked with processing purposes, which the Home Office has beforehand mentioned was “tripling productivity to ensure more illegal migrants are returned to their country of origin, quicker”.
But the division’s prime civil servant, Sir Matthew Rycroft, revealed in a letter to MPs that simply 1,182 migrants who had crossed the Channel had been returned to their house nation since 2020, out of a complete of greater than 111,800 who arrived in that point interval.
The majority of these returned had been from Albania, with whom the UK has a returns settlement.
Source: information.sky.com”