Asylum figures raise doubts over PM's claim he has cleared backlog

Rishi Sunak's claims to have cleared the asylum backlog by the end of 2023 have been called into question after appeals against Home Office refusals of asylum claims increased by more than 300% in the first three months of this year.

- Diane Taylor

In the latest quarterly statistics for tribunals for the period January to March 2024 published by the Ministry of Justice, the number of asylum and protection appeals lodged was 10,000 an increase of 330%.

If a backlog had been cleared, asylum claims should not still be in the system, but thousands of the cases refused in the backlog-clearing exercise have now surfaced in the appeals process at what is known as the firsttier tribunal immigration and asylum chamber (FTTIAC).

Resources at the tribunal are already stretched and these cases, which the government said had been cleared, will create extra work. When the MoJ published the latest figures, government officials made it clear that the 330% increase in appeals was due to the backlog-clearing exercise.

"The increase in appeals to the FTTIAC follows the Home Office's work to tackle the backlog of legacy asylum claims," states an explanation of the 330% increase.