According to new data, the backlog of asylum cases has reached more than 70,000 despite a reduction in the number of annual applications.
The Home Office figures show that as of the start of July 2021 almost 71,000 asylum seekers and dependents were waiting for an initial decision on their claim for refugee status.
This figure is more than nine times higher than it was a decade previously, at the end of June 2011 and includes 3,064 citizens of Afghanistan.
The backlog has doubled in just a couple of years, with it sitting at 36,000 back in 2018.
Pending asylum cases increased despite the number of new applications remaining below pre-pandemic levels.
The number of claims rose in the second quarter of 2021, but this remained well below the 2019 peak figures, whilst the running total in the year ending 30 June 2021 is also lower than the number for the year to 30 June 2020.
Data also revealed a significant rise in the number of asylum seekers who have been waiting more than six months for an initial decision, with a 40 per cent year on year increase to more than 54,000.
On top of that 310 people benefitted from the UK Resettlement Scheme in the first six months of 2021. With resettlement currently running at around a quarter of the pre-pandemic levels.
Dr Peter William Walsh researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said: “The scale of the asylum backlog does not reflect numbers of people applying, because asylum applications have slightly decreased.
“Some of the recent increases in the backlog took place during the pandemic, but this is a much longer-term trend. A key driver is that the share of people receiving a decision within six months has fallen dramatically over the past decade.”
Here at Knightsbridge Solicitors, we are passionate about giving you and your family the best possible opportunities in the UK. Contact our experienced immigration team today on 0115 824 1700.