Nearly 42,000 UK asylum seekers waiting on appeal
LONDON — Almost 42,000 asylum seekers are waiting for an appeal hearing after the Home Office rejected their initial claims, according to analysis of official figures.
The Refugee Council said the number is a five-fold increase in two years and the government risks simply moving the asylum crisis from one part of the system to another, with almost 40,000 migrants still housed in hotels.
The Home Office said it had doubled the number of asylum seekers receiving an initial decision on their claim and allocated funding for more sitting court days.
A spokesperson said the government remains determined to end the use of asylum hotels over time and cut the "unacceptably high" costs of accommodation.
The Refugee Council said more asylum seekers' claims are being refused due to legislation introduced by the previous Conservative government, which made it harder to prove genuine refugee status.
After the government enacted the Nationality and Borders Act, only four in 10 Afghans were given permission to stay in the second half of last year. Previously, almost all Afghans asking for sanctuary were granted asylum.Many of those rejected are thought likely to be appealing the decision. Currently, Afghans make up the highest nationality accommodated in hotels and those arriving by small boats in the last two years.The chief executive of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, has called for better and fairer decision making."Right first-time decision making will ensure refugees are given safety to go on to contribute to communities across the country and those who don't have a right to stay in the UK are removed with dignity and respect," he said.The charity points out that those in the appeals backlog still require accommodation and warns that, without improvements, the potential cost of hotels could be £1.5bn this year.A government spokesperson said: "The asylum system we inherited was not fit for purpose, which is why we are taking urgent action to restart asylum processing and clear the backlog of cases, which will save the taxpayer an estimated £4 billion over the next two years."It is allocating funding for "thousands more sitting days in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber to streamline asylum claims and improve productivity," the statement added.Statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that at the end of 2024 there were 41,987 asylum appeals in the court's backlog, up from 7,173 at the start of 2023.The Refugee Council's analysis suggests the total number of asylum application appeals lodged last year was a 71% increase on 2023. — BBC
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
Afghans who helped America during the war plead for an exemption from Trump travel ban
ISLAMABAD: Afghans who worked for the US during its war against the Taliban urged President Donald Trump Thursday to exempt them from a travel ban that could lead to them being deported to Afghanistan, where they say they will face persecution. Their appeal came hours after Trump announced a US entry ban on citizens from 12 countries, including Afghanistan. It affects thousands of Afghans who fled Taliban rule and had been approved for resettlement through a US program assisting people at risk due to their work with the American government, media organizations, and humanitarian groups. But Trump suspended that program in January, leaving Afghans stranded in several locations, including Pakistan and Qatar. Pakistan, meanwhile, has been deporting foreigners it says are living in the country illegally, mostly Afghan, adding to the refugees' sense of peril. 'This is heartbreaking and sad news,' said one Afghan, who worked closely with US agencies before the Taliban returned to power in 2021. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue, fearing Taliban reprisals and potential arrest by Pakistani authorities. He said the travel ban on an estimated 20,000 Afghans in Pakistan could encourage the government to begin deporting Afghans awaiting resettlement in the US 'President Trump has shattered hopes,' he told The Associated Press. He said his life would be at risk if he returned to Afghanistan with his family because he previously worked for the US Embassy in Kabul on public awareness campaigns promoting education. 'You know the Taliban are against the education of girls. America has the right to shape its immigration policy, but it should not abandon those who stood with it, risked their life, and who were promised a good future.' Another Afghan, Khalid Khan, said the new restrictions could expose him and thousands of others to arrest in Pakistan. He said police had previously left him and his family alone at the request of the US Embassy. 'I worked for the US military for eight years, and I feel abandoned. Every month, Trump is making a new rule,' said Khan. He fled to Pakistan three years ago. 'I don't know what to say. Returning to Afghanistan will jeopardize my daughter's education. You know the Taliban have banned girls from attending school beyond sixth grade. My daughter will remain uneducated if we return.' He said it no longer mattered whether people spoke out against Trump's policies. 'So long as Trump is there, we are nowhere. I have left all of my matters to Allah.' There was no immediate comment on the travel ban from the Taliban-run government. Pakistan previously said it was working with host countries to resettle Afghans. Nobody was available to comment on Trump's latest executive order.
Saudi Gazette
4 days ago
- Saudi Gazette
Trump signs ban on travel to US by nationals from 12 countries
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Wednesday evening to ban travel from several countries to the US, citing security risks. The ban will fully restrict entry of nationals from 12 countries: Afghanistan; Myanmar, also known as Burma; Chad; Republic of the Congo; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Haiti; Iran; Libya; Somalia; Sudan; and Yemen. People from seven countries will have partial restrictions: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The proclamation includes exceptions for lawful permanent residents, existing visa holders, certain visa categories and individuals whose entry serves US national interests. The president made the final call on signing the proclamation after the antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado, according to a White House official. He was considering it beforehand, but Sunday's assault put it into motion faster. 'President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm,' White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson wrote on X. 'These commonsense restrictions are country-specific and include places that lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information,' she wrote. Trump said in a video posted Wednesday that new countries could be added to the travel ban as 'threats emerge around the world.' 'The list is subject to revision based on whether material improvements are made. And likewise new countries can be added as threats emerge around the world, but we will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm and nothing will stop us from keeping America safe,' the president said. The proclamation takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on June 9, according to the White House. Wednesday's proclamation comes less than five months after the president was inaugurated. On his first day in office, he issued an executive order directing cabinet members, including the secretary of state, to compile a list of countries 'for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.' In his first term, Trump barred travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations from coming to the US, a policy that saw court challenges before President Joe Biden repealed it when he took office in 2021. The barring of nationals from Afghanistan could impact Afghans who worked alongside the US during its two decades of war there. Tens of thousands of Afghans have already been caught in limbo due to other Trump administration executive orders suspending the US refugee admissions program and the suspension of foreign aid funding for flights of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders. Shawn Vandiver, the founder of #AfghanEvac, a leading US coalition of resettlement and veterans' groups, said the travel ban 'disproportionately affects families and individuals seeking lawful entry into the US.' The proclamation 'is a strategic move, not a response to an immediate threat,' Vandiver said in a statement. The ban also sparked criticism from the governments of impacted countries. Venezuela's Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace said on Wednesday that being in the US 'is a big risk for anyone, not just Venezuelans.' 'If you're really that foolish, then go to the United States,' Diosdado Cabello said on government TV, Reuters news agency reported. Oxfam, meanwhile, warned that the proclamation 'marks a chilling return to policies of fear, discrimination, and division.' The ban will deny entry to the US for individuals and families fleeing war and persecution, 'forcing them to remain in dangerous conditions,' Abby Maxman, Oxfam America's President and CEO, said in a statement. — CNN
Arab News
5 days ago
- Arab News
200,000 Afghans left Pakistan since deportation drive renewed in April
ISLAMABAD: More than 200,000 Afghans have left Pakistan since the government renewed a deportation drive in April, Islamabad's interior ministry told AFP. Pakistan has launched a strict campaign to evict more than 800,000 Afghans who have had their residence permits canceled, including some who were born in Pakistan or lived there for decades. According to the ministry, more than 135,000 Afghans left Pakistan in April, while the number dropped to 67,000 in May and more than 3,000 were sent back in the first two days of June. Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan over the past several decades, fleeing successive wars, as well hundreds of thousands who arrived after the return of the Taliban government in 2021. A campaign to evict them began in 2023, prompting hundreds of thousands to cross the border in the span of a few days, fearing harassment or arrest. In total, more than one million Afghans have left Pakistan. The UN's International Organization for Migration on Tuesday voiced concern over a surge in Afghan families being deported from Iran, recording 15,675 crossing in May, a more than two-fold increase from the previous month. The influx across both borders threatens to strain Afghanistan's already 'fragile reception and reintegration systems,' IOM said in a statement. Islamabad has labelled Afghans 'terrorists and criminals,' but analysts say the expulsions are designed to pressure neighboring Afghanistan's Taliban authorities to control militancy in the border regions. Last year, Pakistan recorded the highest number of deaths from attacks in a decade. Pakistan's security forces are under enormous pressure along the border with Afghanistan, battling a growing insurgency by ethnic nationalists in Balochistan in the southwest, and the Pakistani Taliban and its affiliates in the northwest. The government frequently accuses Afghan nationals of taking part in attacks and blames Kabul for allowing militants to take refuge on its soil, a charge Taliban leaders deny. Some Pakistanis have grown weary of hosting a large Afghan population as security and economic woes deepen, and the deportation campaign has widespread support. Pakistan is now threatening to lift the protection granted to the 1.3 million Afghans holding refugee cards issued by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees at the end of June.
