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The number of migrants being returned to their home countries rose by almost a fifth in the 12 months to the end of June, amid a wider drive by the past Conservative government to speed up the processing of asylum claims.
The total number of returns of unsuccessful asylum seekers and other types of migrants, including foreign national offenders, rose to 53,228 from 44,751 in the previous 12 month period, according to data published by the Home Office on Thursday.
The number of enforced returns increased by 48 per cent compared with the previous year to 7,190 — though the number of people who were returned voluntarily, or were returned when trying to enter at the port, was significantly higher.
The figures also show that “irregular arrivals”, which include small boat crossings and people travelling illegally in lorries, fell by 26 per cent to 38,784.
Meanwhile, there was a significant reduction in the asylum backlog. At the end of June, there were 85,839 cases awaiting an initial decision, 36 per cent fewer than a year earlier, as then-prime minister Rishi Sunak’s government sought to process claims quickly and reduce reliance on costly asylum hotels accommodating those awaiting a decision.
The data runs until the end of June of this year — days before the general election on July 4 — meaning it will be seized upon as evidence of the legacy of Sunak’s government’s, rather than any policies adopted by Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour administration.
There were 91,885 initial decisions on asylum applications in the 12 months, four times as many as in the previous year. Fewer than 60 per cent of the initial decisions were grants of protection — which are given to people fleeing danger or persecution — down from 71 per cent in year ending June 2023, in a sign of the previous government’s efforts to enforce a tougher asylum regime.
The number of caseworkers working on asylum claims increased by 60 per cent over the 12 month period to 2,500. Labour has said it will hire an additional 1,000 caseworkers to bring down the backlog faster.
Starmer has pledged to “smash the gangs” trafficking asylum seekers across the Channel on small boats, slash the reliance on costly hotels for housing migrants, and boost the number of failed asylum seekers and migrants being sent to their home countries.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper announced this week that the government aims to increase returns of migrants — which have dropped precipitously over the past decade — to levels last seen in 2018. The government has set a target of returning 14,500 migrants over the next six months.
Labour plans to form a “returns unit” inside the Home Office that will rapidly review the cases of people arriving from “safe” countries such as Albania and India so that they could be swiftly sent back. The unit will also deal with people whose asylum claims have been denied, or who have committed criminal offences.
The government has so far hired 300 of the planned 1,000 people to staff this unit, a Home Office official said.
It has also said previously it will seek to strike bilateral returns deals with countries deemed safe, such as Vietnam, Turkey and Kurdistan, as well as to agree a new returns accord with the EU.
Despite the drop in irregular arrivals, the number of people crossing in small boats has increased by 10 per cent so far this year compared with last year, with more than 19,200 people having made the journey by August 19.
This is in large part a result of a surge in the number of arrivals from Vietnam. There were 2,248 Vietnamese arrivals between January and June, four times higher than the same period last year, compared with 2,000 from Afghanistan, 1,600 from Iran and 1,400 from Syria.
It is much more challenging for the government to return asylum seekers who have arrived from war-torn countries as, under international law, anyone seeking asylum cannot be returned to a country if it would jeopardise their safety.