The backlog of asylum cases in the UK has hit a new record high, Home Office figures show.
A total of 175,457 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June, up 44 per cent from 122,213 a year earlier and the highest figure since records began in 2010.
The number of people waiting more than six months for an initial decision stood at 139,961 at the end of June, up 57 per cent year-on-year and another record high.
The rise in asylum applications waiting for an initial decision is “due to more cases entering the asylum system than receiving initial decisions”, the Home Office said.
However, the number of cases awaiting a decision has risen by less than 1 per cent in the three months to the end of June, suggesting the rise is slowing down.
“This is 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.
But the growing number of asylum seekers awaiting a decision is a blow to Rishi Sunak, who has promised to clear the backlog of applications by the end of this year.
Charity Refugee Action called on the government to give those waiting more than a year for an asylum decision leave to remain. It also urged ministers to allow asylum seekers to work while awaiting decisions on their claims.
“The huge backlog in asylum decision making is a product of the government’s hostile environment and it is causing immense suffering to refugees who just want to get on with their lives,” head of asylum services Rachel Goodall said.
She said thousands are being forced into inappropriate housing such as former hotels, prison ships and Ministry of Defence sites.
“Only the private firms trousering millions in taxpayer-funded profits benefit,” she added.
It came as asylum applications in the year to June also hit a two-decade high of 78,768, a fifth higher than a year earlier, which the Home Office said “partially reflects an increase in small boat arrivals to the UK”.
In the year to June, 52,530 migrants were detected entering the UK via irregular routes, which include small boats, lorries and shipping containers, 17 per cent higher than a year earlier.
And of these, 44,460 per cent arrived via small boats, a jump of more than a quarter compared with a year earlier the Home Office said.
Mr Sunak also pledged in January to “stop the boats”, but has since admitted it is a “complex” issue and said he will not be able to do so before a general election expected next autumn.
The Home Office pointed to a slight fall in the number of small boat crossings between January and June, but admitted “comparisons of arrivals between the same months in different years may likewise be affected by differences in weather conditions”.
Labour has said any fall in crossings so far this year is due to bad weather.