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A record 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK during Sir Keir Starmer’s first year in office, reflecting a surge in small boat arrivals to the country despite Labour’s pledge to smash the gangs bringing migrants across the channel.
The figure for the year ending in June marked a rise of 14 per cent from the 97,107 recorded during the same period a year before, according to data published on Thursday. It was also 8 per cent higher than the previous peak in 2002.
The data comes days after an Essex council won a High Court ruling to block a local hotel from housing asylum-seekers, prompting other councils to look at taking legal action.
Thursday’s figures showed that there were 32,059 asylum-seekers housed in UK hotels at the end of June, a decline of 1 per cent from the end of March but still 8.4 per cent higher than June 2024, just before Labour was elected.
The government granted asylum to fewer than half of cases at the initial decision stage, down from 58 per cent the previous year and below a peak of 77 per cent in 2022.
The top countries of origin for asylum claimants were Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Eritrea and Bangladesh, collectively representing more than a third of total applications.
Despite the increase in applications, the asylum backlog fell to below 100,000 for the first time in almost four years. Thursday’s figures showed there were 90,812 people awaiting an initial decision in the year to June.
The data also revealed that the UK government spent £4.8bn on the asylum system in 2024-25, a 12 per cent decline from a record £5.4bn in the previous year.
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