- UK asylum backlog controversy
- Statistics watchdog investigation
- 4,537 complex cases remain
Earlier this week, the government declared that the backlog had been cleared, notwithstanding their own statistics, which indicated that 4,537 claims from that time period remained.
The statistics watchdog in the United Kingdom has initiated an inquiry into the government’s assertion that it successfully resolved the legacy backlog of asylum claims in 2023.
On Tuesday, Rishi Sunak and his administration were criticized. Before June 28, 2022, they claimed to have accepted all asylum applicants’ UK stay applications.
As of Tuesday, 4,537 claims remained in the backlog awaiting a decision; however, according to Mr. Sunak’s spokesman, the government considers these “cleared” since they have been reviewed.
In response to the announcement, the Office for Statistics Regulation has initiated an investigation.
As of June 2022, the government had 92,000 claims to resolve to fulfil Mr. Sunak’s commitment.
The Home Office disclosed that a cumulative of 112,138 initial asylum determinations were rendered from January 1st to December 28th, 2022, 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.
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A total of 51,469 asylum applications were approved, compared to 25,550 denials; thus, an acceptance rate of 67%. However, this also signifies the completion of 35,119 “non-substantive” decisions.
According to the Home Office, this occurs when the government revokes the claim, halts, declares null and invalid. Alternatively, it happens if 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.
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.”
Downing Street claims legacy asylum cases cleared, 4,537 pending
