Here are our top facts based on the UK Government's latest immigration statistics for the year ending September 2023.
www.refugeecouncil.org.uk
from the link:
There were 78,768 asylum applications (relating to
97,390 people) in the UK in the year ending June 2023,
a 19% increase from the previous 12 months. The increase in applications is likely to be due to the continued global increase in the number of people displaced due to war and conflict. In terms of the number of asylum applications per head of population,
the UK ranks 21st highest in Europe.
256 small boats were detected arriving in the UK between January and June 2023, compared with 336 between January and June 2022.
There has been an average of 45 people per small boat in the six months between January and June 2023, compared with 35 people per small boat in the same period in 2022.
90% of those who crossed the Channel claimed asylum in the UK, but
only 360 (1%) people had received a decision by the end of June 2023. Of those who did receive a decision, 176 (49%) were grants of refugee status or other leave.
70% of initial decisions made in the year to June 2023 have been grants of protection, meaning they have been awarded refugee status or humanitarian protection.
A total of 20,888 people were granted protection in the year ending June 2023 as a result of an asylum claim, a 48% increase from the previous year when
14,092 people were granted protection.
The Home Office also grants other forms of leave to people who have claimed asylum, as well as grants of protection through the resettlement programmes. Over the last 12 months,
24,296 people were granted status in the UK through the asylum system or resettlement programmes.
At the end of June of the 175,457 people awaiting a decision,
80% (139,961 people) have been waiting for more than 6 months.
The backlog in cases awaiting an initial decision continued to rise to another record high.
At the end of July 2023,
136,779 cases were waiting for an initial decision. This is around the same as it was at the end of 2022 (136,230) and has been consistently around that level throughout 2023.
While there has been an increase in the number of decisions being taken, it is important to note that 47% of decisions taken in the first six months of 2023 weren’t cases where the UK government either granted or refused a claim. Instead, those asylum claims were withdrawn. This is a significant increase on the number of claims withdrawn in 2022, when 22% of claims were withdrawn (and 23% in first six months of 2022).
www.oasiscardiff.org
