- Sunak’s claim on asylum backlog false
- Remaining cases need work
- Government criticized for misleading
“Totally false” and “misleading” are terms used to describe Rishi Sunak’s assertion that the legacy asylum backlog has been entirely cleared.
Official White House statements maintain the prime minister successfully resolved the outstanding backlog of 4,537 asylum claims, despite government data to the contrary.
The Home Office is allocated until the end of 2023 to “abolish” the legacy backlog of asylum claims submitted before June 28, 2022, as promised by Rishi Sunak in December 2022.
On Monday, the department claimed it had “delivered” on the commitment, having processed over 112,000 asylum claims in 2023.
Before June 28, 2022, over 92,000 asylum claims requiring a decision were submitted. However, as of June 28, 2022, only 4,537 remain, according to official government data.
In an interview with the press this morning, a spokesman for the prime minister confirmed the long-standing backlog of asylum claims has been cleared as pledged, adding the remaining cases merely “require additional work” after comprehensive review.
The spokesperson stated, “The government has fulfilled our commitment to clear the backlog.” We are being extremely forthright regarding what that involves.
Government Exceeds Asylum Processing Target
We have completed the processing of each of those cases and have exceeded the initial commitment. In total, 112,000 decisions have been rendered.
A small percentage of cases are challenging and require extra work due to our strict requirements.
However, it is an impressive feat of execution by Home Office personnel. They handle such a substantial volume of applications within a limited timeframe while upholding our stringent safety protocols.
The remaining 4,537 more complex cases, according to the government, “comprise asylum seekers presenting as children, where age verification is being conducted; individuals with serious medical conditions; or those with suspected prior convictions, where checks may uncover criminality that would preclude asylum.”
According to data released by the Home Office, a cumulative of 112,138 initial asylum determinations were reached from 1 January to 28 December, in contrast to the 31,766 decisions made for the entire year of 2022.
Out of the total decisions rendered, 25,338 pertained to non-legacy cases, whereas 86,800 pertained to legacy cases.
A total of 51,469 asylum applications were approved, compared to 25,550 denials; thus, acceptance rate of 67%. However, this also signifies the completion of 35,119 “non-substantive” decisions.
As per the Home Office, this occurs when the government revokes the claim, halts, declares null and invalid. Alternatively, it happens when the applicant neglects to submit a portion of the application.
The quantity of 35,119 instances surpasses by over 2.5 times the 13,093 instances of non-substantive claims documented in 2022.
Refugee Council CEO Deems Government’s Asylum Backlog Claim Misleading
Enver Solomon, the chief executive officer of the Refugee Council, stated that “the government’s claim that the legacy backlog has been cleared is misleading, given that thousands are still awaiting a decision.”
Labour Party opposition home secretary Yvette Cooper called the backlog elimination claim “completely untrue.”
She stated to broadcasters, “They have not fulfilled a series of commitments they made regarding the reduction of the asylum backlog.”
“However, the backlog of asylum applications remains close to one hundred thousand, and there are still thousands of individuals. Including an all-time high in the number of people staying in asylum hotels.” Therefore, the government is ineffective in every respect.
Additionally, the prime minister’s spokesman was questioned regarding what appeared to be Home Secretary James Cleverly’s indication on LBC radio this morning that the government intends to completely eliminate small boat crossings by 2024.
Downing Street stated that they “will not set a deadline.” They emphasized that the measure on Rwanda, expected back in the House of Commons “this month,” is “vital” to the effort to halt small boat crossings.
Mr. Cleverly refrained from implying that vessels would be halted in other regions this year. However, a source in close proximity to him expressed the following view: “As illegal migration is inherently the work of criminal people smuggling gangs, our objective should consistently be to eradicate it entirely and without delay.”
UK’s Strategy to Halt Small Boat Crossings Faces Criticism
We will use multiple methods to get zero and eliminate these dishonest smugglers’ business model. They are indifferent to the lives or deaths of their clients as long as they receive payment.
It follows Mr. Sunak’s admission to the Liaison Committee of parliament just before Christmas. He mentioned that there is no “definite date” for the complete abolition of small boat crossings.
Concerns had persisted for several months regarding the attainment of the prime minister’s objective. During a December appearance before the Commons Liaison Committee, the prime minister failed to provide an exact timeframe. This was for the resolution of the outstanding backlog of asylum claims.
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The Home Office announced in February of last year. It would send questionnaires to thousands of asylum seekers to expedite the processing of their claims. Approximately 12,000 individuals from Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Libya, and Yemen who were awaiting a decision on asylum applications in the United Kingdom were deemed eligible under the policy.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said in June that backlog clearing required a large increase and questioned the plans’ sustainability.
In 2022-23, the expenditure watchdog anticipated asylum support spending at £3.6 billion, nearly doubling from the year before.
The processing of applications was delegated to a greater number of caseworkers, which the Home Office has previously claimed was tripling output in order to expedite the repatriation of more unlawful immigrants to their countries of origin.
However, Sir Matthew Rycroft, the department’s top civil servant, disclosed to Members of Parliament in a letter that since 2020, only 1,182 migrants who had crossed the Channel had been repatriated to their country of origin, out of a total of over 111,800 who had arrived during that time period.
Returnees from Albania, with whom the United Kingdom has a returns agreement, comprised the plurality.
