Sunak doubles down on ‘stop the boats’ vow as Channel crossings proceed
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hannel crossings continued for a tenth consecutive day as Rishi Sunak insisted his “stop the boats” pledge would lower the “unacceptable” value of the asylum system.
The Prime Minister warned the asylum system was beneath “unsustainable pressure” after the invoice for the taxpayer virtually doubled in a yr to just about £4 billion.
Home Office spending on asylum rose by £1.85 billion, from £2.12 billion in 2021/22 to £3.97 billion in 2022/23.
A decade in the past, in 2012/13, the full value to the taxpayer was £500.2 million.
Government statistics additionally confirmed that 80% of asylum seekers are ready longer than six months for an preliminary determination.
Separate Home Office information confirmed Channel crossings topped 19,000 for the yr to this point, regardless of Mr Sunak’s vow to voters that he’ll “stop the boats”.
Some 208 migrants arrived within the UK on Thursday after crossing the Channel in 4 boats, taking the provisional whole for 2023 thus far to 19,382.
Crossings continued on Friday for the tenth day in a row amid sunny, heat and calm situations at sea.
The Prime Minister instructed the Daily Express: “The best way to relieve the unsustainable pressures on our asylum system and unacceptable costs to the taxpayer is to stop the boats in the first place.
“That’s why we are focused on our plan to break the business model of the people smugglers facilitating these journeys, including working with international partners upstream to disrupt their efforts, stepping up joint work with the French to help reduce crossings and tackling the asylum backlog.”
Facing questions from broadcasters on Friday, Mr Sunak insisted that whereas fixing the difficulty “would take time”, his plan to finish small boat crossings “is working”.
He mentioned: “When I became Prime Minister, before I outlined my plan, the number of illegal migrants coming to the UK had quadrupled in just the last couple of years.
“But for the first time this year, crossings are down. They are down about 15% versus last year. That’s the first time that has happened since the small boats crisis emerged. That shows that the plan is working.”
Overall, a complete of 175,457 folks have been ready for an preliminary determination on an asylum utility within the UK on the finish of June 2023, up 44% from 122,213 for a similar interval a yr earlier – the best determine since present data started in 2010.
Of these, 139,961 had been ready longer than six months for an preliminary determination, up 57% yr on yr from 89,231 and one other report excessive.
Labour mentioned the record-high asylum backlog quantities to a “disastrous record” for Mr Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, whereas campaigners referred to as for claims to be processed extra effectively.
Mr Sunak has additionally pledged by the tip of 2023 to clear the backlog of 92,601 so-called “legacy” instances which had been within the system as of the tip of June final yr.
But within the six months since he made his promise, the determine decreased by lower than 1 / 4 (23%), with 67,870 legacy asylum instances awaiting a call as of June 30 2023.
The Home Office insisted the Government is “on track” to clear the legacy backlog by the tip of the yr and mentioned progress has been made since June, citing provisional figures to the tip of July which indicated the full backlog of instances had fallen.
The rise within the asylum backlog is “due to more cases entering the asylum system than receiving initial decisions”, the division mentioned.
But the variety of instances ready to be handled elevated by lower than 1% within the three months to the tip of June, suggesting the rise is slowing down.
This was “in part due to an increase in the number of initial decisions made, and an increase in the number of asylum decision-makers employed”, the Home Office added.
Small boat arrivals accounted for fewer than half (46%) of the full variety of folks claiming asylum within the UK within the interval.