Drop in asylum applications
The number of people seeking asylum in the UK has dropped slightly, according to the Home Office.
It claims that numbers fell by ten per cent since the financial year 2006-07, with only 5,680 applications in the first quarter of 2007.
The statistics, published today, show that the most numerous applicants were Chinese, Iranian and Afghan – the latter experiencing a 45 per cent rise in applications over the last year.
Three quarters of asylum applications failed, while the number of appeals rose five per cent to 3,880. Only a fifth of the applicants had their rejection overturned.
Removals fell however, with 3,370 failed asylum applicants sent home in the first three months of 2007, compared to 4,085 in the last three months of 2006.
Liam Byrne, immigration minister, said this was due to the government prioritising the deportation of criminals.
Refugee and immigration groups condemned the Home Office’s move to add a further ten countries to the ‘safe list’ – a set of countries which the UK considers safe for returned refugees.
Citizens of these countries will not be granted a right to appeal following a rejection of their asylum request.
In the case of Bosnia, Mauritius, Montenegro and Peru, all asylum seekers whose applications fail will be returned to their home country without a right of appeal. In the case of Gambia, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali and Sierra Leone this will only apply to male applicants.
