The authorities is claiming victory in clearing the backlog of asylum claims – however that has been described as “misleading” as hundreds are nonetheless ready for a last choice.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged in December 2022 that he would “abolish” the legacy backlog of asylum claims made earlier than 28 June of that 12 months, 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 Labour has mentioned the federal government’s declare that each one of these instances have been cleared is “false”.
The Home Office mentioned on Monday that each one instances within the legacy backlog have been reviewed, however added that “4,500 complex cases have been highlighted that require additional checks or investigation for a final decision to be made”.
Such instances usually 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”, the division added.
It is known that the Home Office has processed about 25,200 newer asylum claims, on prime of the 86,800 choices in legacy instances, which implies the provisional variety of whole choices made general within the 12 months reaches 112,000.
As many selections as doable had been made within the legacy backlog, in response to officers, and the excellent instances are because of a refusal to compromise safety.
They pointed to efforts to clear a few of the newer instances as proof of the division’s dedication to tackling the general backlog.
The prime minister mentioned in an announcement that the division’s efforts are “saving the taxpayer millions of pounds in expensive hotel costs, reducing strain on public services and ensuring the most vulnerable receive the right support”.
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”.
“After mismanaging the asylum system for so many years the government was right to clear the backlog but was wrong to do it in a way that has failed to see the face behind the case and instead has treated people simply as statistics rather than with the care and compassion they deserve,” he added.
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Labour’s shadow immigration minister additionally accused the federal government of constructing “false” claims about clearing the asylum backlog.
Stephen Kinnock mentioned: “The asylum backlog has rocketed to 165,000 under the Tories – eight times higher than when Labour left office – and no slicing or renaming the figures can disguise that fact.
“Meanwhile Rishi Sunak’s promise made a 12 months in the past to finish asylum lodge use has been disastrously damaged – with a 20% enhance to 56,000, costing the British taxpayer greater than £2bn a 12 months.
“This is yet more evidence of an asylum system broken by the Conservatives.”
The authorities’s announcement comes after months of fears that the prime minister’s goal wouldn’t be achieved.
In February final 12 months, the Home Office mentioned hundreds of asylum seekers can be despatched questionnaires which may very well be used to hurry up a choice on their claims, and about 12,000 individuals 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 below 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 help in 2022-23, which amounted to virtually double the earlier 12 months.
The Home Office mentioned extra caseworkers had been tasked with processing purposes, which 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 dwelling 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.
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, which continued to rise and stood at 91,076 as of the tip of November, not together with legacy instances.
Source: information.sky.com”