Illegal immigration and asylum: are authorities pledges on monitor?-OxBig News Network

The prime minister has made tackling unlawful immigration and “restoring order” to the asylum system a precedence for the federal government.

Sir Keir Starmer has promised to “smash the gangs”. It follows predecessor Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “cease the boats”.

Yet small boat crossings have reached report ranges for this level within the yr – with about 800 migrants arriving on Wednesday alone.

BBC Verify appears to be like at key authorities pledges – from ending using asylum inns to returning extra failed asylum seekers.

Labour promised to “end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds” in its normal election manifesto.

The authorities desires to fulfil this pledge by the top of this Parliament – that means by 2029, until an early election known as.

However, in keeping with figures obtained by BBC Verify by way of a Freedom of Information request, the variety of inns used to accommodate asylum seekers was larger in December than when Labour took workplace in July.

In July, 212 inns have been in use. By December, there have been 218 – accommodating about 38,000 folks.

Once somebody applies for asylum, they achieve authorized protections whereas awaiting a choice – together with lodging if they can not assist themselves financially.

Almost everybody who arrives by small boat claims asylum – they made up a 3rd of all asylum purposes final yr. Another massive group of claimants have been folks already within the UK who had overstayed their visas.

The asylum course of determines whether or not an individual can stay within the UK as a result of they’ve a “well-founded concern of persecution” of their dwelling nation.

Since 2020, the federal government has been more and more reliant on inns, partly as a result of the provision of different forms of asylum lodging has not saved up with the numbers arriving in small boats.

But utilizing asylum inns is dear – costing £8m per day in 2023-24.

As of 14 May, 12,699 folks had arrived within the UK in small boats – up by a 3rd in contrast with this time final yr.

To scale back the variety of crossings, the federal government has pledged to disrupt the people-smuggling gangs behind them.

But it’s unclear how the federal government plans to measure its progress, or when the purpose will likely be met.

The Home Office instructed us information on actions taken by officers to disrupt legal gangs was “being collected and could also be revealed sooner or later”.

There is a few info on efforts to forestall small boat crossings by French authorities – who, beneath a 2023 deal, are receiving £476m from the UK over three years.

They say about 17,379 folks have been prevented from crossing between July and December 2024. We have no idea what occurred to them or whether or not they tried to cross once more.

There have been high-profile circumstances of UK-based smugglers being sentenced, including a man who helped smuggle more than 3,000 people and raids on the continent.

And on the current UK-EU summit each side pledged to work collectively on discovering options to sort out unlawful immigration.

Illegal migration contains individuals who arrive on small boats, or hidden in lorries, and individuals who stay within the UK after their authorized visa expires.

The overwhelming majority of UK immigration is authorized – this contains individuals who have been granted permission to come back to work, examine, declare asylum or for different authorised functions.

Last yr, about 43,000 folks entered the UK illegally – about 4% of the almost a million individuals who got here to the UK legally in 2024.

The authorities has additionally promised “to clear the asylum backlog“.

This refers back to the backlog of claims by asylum seekers who’re ready to listen to whether or not they are going to be granted refugee standing and be allowed to stay within the UK.

Since final summer season, there was a 50% enhance in choices on asylum circumstances.

But regardless of this, the UK noticed a record number of asylum applications throughout the yr, that means the general backlog has really risen for the reason that election.

Under Labour, 41% of asylum claims have been granted between October and December 2024.

Another backlog the federal government desires to clear is the mountain of court docket appeals from asylum seekers following rejected claims.

That backlog has additionally acquired worse since final summer season’s election, in keeping with the most recent figures.

There have been about 33,000 circumstances on the finish of June, rising to almost 42,000 in December – the very best complete since at the very least 2015.

The authorities has additionally promised to “enhance returns” of individuals with no authorized proper to be within the UK. It mentioned it will arrange a brand new returns and enforcement unit with 1,000 further employees.

Between July 2024 (when Labour got here to energy) and May 2025, there were 29,867 returns recorded by the Home Office.

This is up 12% in comparison with the identical interval 12 months in the past.

So the federal government is assembly this pledge however it’s value noting that simply 7,893 folks have been forcibly eliminated – which might contain being escorted on a airplane by an immigration official.

The figures additionally present 8,511 failed asylum seekers have been returned on this interval however they don’t say what number of have been enforced or voluntary.

Separate authorities figures from July to December gave a fuller breakdown exhibiting lots of those that did go away voluntarily did so with out authorities help of even its data on the time, as BBC Verify has previously pointed out.

This is regardless of repeated claims from ministers that the federal government has “eliminated” and even “deported” this many individuals.

The Home Office says all returns outcomes are the results of collective efforts by the division.