Home Office figures released today show the number of applications fell again for the 2nd quarter of 2005 - the 4th quarter in succession to show a fall.
There was little change in the key statistic showing numbers of removals despite government efforts to reach their self imposed target of removing more asylum seekers than those who enter the country without gaining an initial positive decision.
Another figure showing little change was the number of successful appeals at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) which remain high at 17% overall. These figures reflect Refugee Council concern that the quality of decision making is insufficient (see Refugee Council statement).
The main points are:
- The total number of applications excluding dependants between April and June was 6220, a drop of 11% over the previous quarter and down 21% over the same quarter of 2004.
- 470 of these applications were recognised as refugees at the initial decision
- The top nationalities applying were from Iran (715), Somalia (455) and Iraq (435) – but Afghanistan (415) had a 45% increase in applications over the previous quarter.
- 17% of the 6305 appeals heard by the AIT were allowed. This figure rises to 42% for Eritrea and Russia and 39% for Somalia.
- 3095 asylum applicants were removed (3590 including dependants) 3% increase on the previous quarter.
- 1680 asylum seekers were being detained on 25 June 2005
Margaret Lally, Deputy Chief Executive of the Refugee Council said “The government needs to stop measuring the success of its asylum policy simply on the basis of the number of people claiming asylum and start to address more fundamental problems."
“Today’s figures show that almost 1 in 5 appeals are successful, rising to almost half of all appeals on decisions made on claims from Russian and Eritrean nationals. This reflects an unacceptably poor standard of decision-making on asylum claims. The measure of a good asylum system is not in the numbers it turns away but in its ability to identify refugees who need protection and give it to them."
Other information:
Read BBC: Asylum applications down by 11%
Read: Refugee Council Statement in full
See also: the Home Office figures in full (pdf)
