Labour has said the immigration system is in “complete chaos”, after the asylum backlog hit a record high.
Official statistics released on Thursday showed 175,457 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June 2023.
This is up 44% from 122,213 at the end of June 2022 and is the highest figure since current records began in 2010.
Rishi Sunak has made cracking down on migration a priority for his time in No.10, having promised to “stop the boats”.
Stephen Kinnock, Labour’s shadow immigration minister, said the figures were “disastrous” for the prime minister.
“These new statistics set out in stark terms the complete chaos the Tories have created in the immigration and asylum system,” he said.
“Only one per cent of last year’s 45,000 small boats cases have received a decision and the number of failed asylum seekers being returned is also down a whopping 70 per cent since 2010.”
He aded: “With this level of mismanagement, there is very little prospect of reducing the eye-wateringly high bill for hotel rooms for all those left in limbo, currently costing the British taxpayer £6 million a day.”
Marley Morris, the associate director for migration, trade and communities, at the IPPR think-tank, said the government was “still far-off from getting on top of the asylum backlog”.
“While the Home Office is bringing down the ‘legacy backlog’ of older cases, this is being offset by new applications from recent arrivals,” she said.
Natasha Tsangarides, associate director of Freedom from Torture, said: “Once again, the Home Office’s own statistics disprove the government’s toxic narrative.
“These new asylum statistics leave no doubt that most people reaching our shores are refugees – men, women, and children fleeing the most unimaginable horrors.
“This is a crisis of the government’s own making. The huge backlog of asylum claims is the result of over a decade of policy failures, mismanagement, and systemic neglect that has left over 175,000 people – over a third more than last year – languishing in limbo and unsafe accommodation.
“Rather than pushing cruel and draconian measures aimed at punishing refugees, this government must rebuild a fair and efficient asylum system and urgently expand safe routes to the UK.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The most up-to-date figures, released earlier this month, show that the total backlog of asylum cases has fallen to the end of July 2023, a month beyond what the statistics released today cover.
“We are also on track to clear the ‘legacy’ asylum backlog by the end of this year. The latest statistics show this has already been reduced by over 28,000 cases since the end of December 2022, with more than 25% of these being made in the last two months.
“The number of decisions being made overall is also up by 61% and we continue to double the number of caseworkers to further speed up the system as well using asylum questionnaires in appropriate cases to simplify the decision-making process.”