Over a hundred “boomerang refugees” returned to the UK and were allowed to stay after making a second claim in 2021, Home Office figures reveal.
The 113 asylum seekers had previously had their applications rejected, only to re-apply and get in. In some cases, they waited years, while others waited just weeks, according to the figures, which are the latest available.
It represents a substantial increase on the 39 similar cases in 2020 and 50 in 2019, reports the Sun. In one instance, a refugee arrived in the UK in April 2020 and had their application refused, and were returned to France the following August.
But two months later they re-appeared in the UK, made another aslyum claim, and was approved ten months later.
While other cases lasted far longer. In August 2010 a person was sent back to Namibia after their asylum claim was rejected, only for them to arrive back in the UK eight years later and be granted asylum.
Alp Mehmet, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “Such reversals of earlier decisions are baffling.
“All we can assume is that failed applicants and their legal representatives learn the lessons of previous failures and modify their claims accordingly. No wonder we are now seen as a gullible, soft touch. And the poor old, put-upon taxpayer foots the bill.”
The second-time asylum claims came from people who had been removed from the UK to countries all around the world including Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan and Albania.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “All asylum applications are considered on their individual merits and where issues relevant to an asylum claim have changed, such as personal circumstances or conditions in their home country, it is right we consider them carefully.
“The Government is going even further through our Illegal Migration Act, which will mean that people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.”
The surprising figures come as home secretary James Cleverly rejected claims the Government was wrong to say the backlog of older asylum claims has been cleared.
New figures show thousands of cases remain unresolved, with the total asylum backlog standing at 99,000.
Questioned on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about whether the backlog was cleared if cases are not fully resolved, Mr Cleverly said the Government had “committed to processing all those applications”, not completing them.
He added: “Our commitment was to process them and we’ve done that.”
The home secretary admitted his department was still looking at 4,500 “complex” cases, some of which involve security concerns.
The Government says the cut in the total number of asylum claims from 136,000 this time last year to 99,000 is due to resolving the “legacy” backlog of applications – referring to those made before June 28 2022.
This is due to a “tenfold increase in the pace at which we complete the processing,” Mr Cleverly said.
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said progress had been made but it was “misleading for the Government to claim that the legacy backlog has been cleared as there are thousands still waiting for a decision”.
The Home Office said more than 112,000 asylum cases were processed by officials last year, exceeding the prime minister’s commitment.
Mr Sunak said the department’s efforts were “saving the taxpayer millions of pounds in expensive hotel costs, reducing strain on public services and ensuring the most vulnerable receive the right support”.
