Photo credit; the independent
New statistics call into question British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s claims that the asylum backlog was cleared by the end of 2023.
The Guardian reports that data shows appeals against the Home Office’s refusal of asylum claims increased by more than 300% in the first three months of this year. From January to March, 10,000 asylum and protection appeals were lodged—an increase of 330%.
Therefore, it makes sense that if a backlog has cleared, asylum claims should not still be in the system. Thousands of refusal cases in the backlog-clearing exercise have resurfaced in the appeals process.
Resources at the first Gier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber are already stretched, and the cases that the government claimed it had cleared will now create extra work. Government officials said the 330% increase in asylum appeals was due to moves to clear the backlog.
Lawyers have raised concerns that the government’s haste to meet the prime minister’s target to clear the asylum backlog resulted in some incorrect decisions. Many cases were left unresolved and pushed to a different part of the immigration system.
Even though the prime minister promised to clear the backlog, the target was only to clear one part. The government has admitted that 4,500 complex cases are still being dealt with and are yet to be cleared. 112,000 claims were processed in 2023.
There was also a quadrupling in cases withdrawn. The Home Office withdrew 79%, four times the number withdrawn in 2022.
While a record 62,336 people were granted protection during the backlog-clearing exercise, nearly 31,000 refused protection.
Labour’s shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock called Sunak’s claims to have cleared the backlog “false”.
Sonia Lenegan, editor of the immigration blog Free Movement, said the new figures “should not surprise anyone.”
