The Home Office's headquarters in Lunar House, Croydon.

Successful applications have gone up by 28 percent from last year.

New migration statistics reveal that more seekers have been waiting for at least half a year for a decision on their applications. The number of successful asylum seekers, however, has also increased by 28 percent.

Stephen Hale, chief executive at Refugee Action, a refugee charity, said it was “truly appalling” that many asylum seekers were waiting for over six months for an initial decision on their application.

The Office for National Statistics’ Migration Statistics Quarterly Report for November 2019 announced that the Home Office granted asylum, humanitarian protection, resettlement or alternative forms of leave to 19,480 people in the year ending September 2019.

Andy Hewett, Head of Advocacy at the Refugee Council, described this as “very positive news”. “These are people who have had their lives all but destroyed in brutal conflicts including the Syrian war,” he said, “and it is so important that Britain welcomes them here and gives them a chance to rebuild their lives.”

A release by the Home Office shows that the majority of people who were granted protection, were also granted asylum. The number of grants (11,596) increased by 68 percent from the previous year, with major increases in grants to Iranian, Sudanese, Eritrean, Turkish and Afghan nationals.

However, more asylum seekers are also waiting longer for decisions on their applications. 58 percent had been waiting for more than six months for an initial decision in September 2019. This is an increase of 9 percent from the previous year. 

Long waits for asylum decisions have been a perennial problem. Home Office statistics show that since 2010, thousands of asylum seekers have been waiting over six months for decisions.

A graph showing how many asylum seekers were awaiting decisions on their application at the end of each quarter, including the number of those waiting for over six months.

 

The Home Office also dropped its target of processing the majority of asylum applications in six months earlier in 2019, citing a desire to “concentrate on cases with acute vulnerability and those in receipt of the greatest level of support”.

Hewett called on the government to address long waiting times “as a matter of urgency”. He said Refugee Action was “very concerned” that asylum seekers had to wait so long “to be given news of their fate”

Long waiting times also leave asylum seekers “struggling to support themselves and their families,”’ according to a report by the Lift the Ban Coalition, which wants the government to give asylum seekers the right to work.

Immigration rules currently prevent most asylum seekers from working while waiting for a decision on their application. Those who cannot find other means to support themselves must rely on asylum support of around £5.39 per day.

Hale cited “strong public, business and cross-party support” for allowing asylum seekers to work while waiting on a decision. 

“Unfair rules mean people seeking asylum who are waiting for their claim to be accepted are not allowed to work,” he said.

“Instead, they must live in limbo on an allowance of £5.39 a day, stuck in poverty and isolation rather than being able to use their skills,” Hale added.

“The next Government, whatever its colour, must act quickly to establish this right,” he concluded.