Asylum applications down by 11%

The government releases new figures each quarter

The number of asylum seekers arriving in Britain fell by 11% in the second quarter of this year, Home Office figures show.

Between 1 April and the end of June, 6,220 people, excluding dependants such as spouses and children, arrived in the UK claiming asylum.

In the first quarter of the year the number was 7,015.

Some 3,095 failed asylum seekers were removed between April and June - a 3% rise from the previous quarter.

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Officials said the fall in applications was due to government policies such as speeding up the asylum and appeals processes, and removing the right of appeal for those from safe countries.

Home Office minister Tony McNulty said the figures showed that asylum applications had fallen by 76% since October 2002, but that more still needs to be done.

"Our five year immigration strategy sets out ways in which we will continue to deal with attempts to abuse our asylum system," he said.

The "e-borders" programme, designed to record people travelling into and out of the UK using airline reservation information and biometric data from travel documents, is a key part of this strategy, he said.

'Persecution'

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch UK, welcomed the drop in applications.

But he urged the government to "get a grip" on the removal of failed applicants, saying "much tougher action" is required because the problem is growing every month.

LATEST FIGURES IN FULL Home Office Asylum Statistics: 2nd Quarter 2005 (507KB) Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need to download Adobe Reader. Download the reader here

Immigrant rights groups were less happy with the continued trend of falling asylum claims.

Habib Rahman, of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said: "We should be deeply ashamed that more people do not claim asylum in the United Kingdom given that one in 300 of the world's people is fleeing persecution, violence or war."

In a separate government report, figures showed 55,000 people from the new EU countries in Eastern Europe applied to work in the UK between April and June.

Since April last year, 232,465 workers - mainly from Poland - have come into the UK under the Worker Registration Scheme.

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Do you agree with the new measures which include speeding up the asylum and appeals process? Or do you think the measures will deter genuine asylum seekers?

This debate is now closed. Thank you for your comments.

I agree with speeding up the whole process of dealing with asylum seekers, especially appeals in cases where asylum seekers come from safe countries. Stricter differentiation should be made and applied between economic and benefits migrants and genuine political asylum seekers.
Alan Jennings, Seaford, England

I work with asylum seekers and wish that many of the other contributors to this debate could see that the character which the media have painted of 'asylum seekers' is inaccurate. Many have significant skills and are wonderful people with much to offer. Again the debate between asylum and immigration is being confused. They are entirely separate entities.
Lou, UK

"Some 3,095 failed asylum seekers were removed between April and June - a 3% rise from the previous quarter." According to Migrationwatch there are around 250,000 failed asylum seekers remaining in the country, so this figure of 3,095 removed in 3 months needs to be raised to at least 30,000, to send the message that failed means failed.
Anthony, UK

Absolutely, it's obvious that the asylum system had been seriously abused in the past, these measures are welcome although overdue.
Mark B, Derby

I don't think the new measures will deter genuine asylum seekers since they will have a solid reason to come to the UK. However, this system does not deter illegal asylum seekers since they can easily find a false passport in Europe and then come over. Furthermore, more needs to be done by the government to remove the people who are not supposed to be here.
Jay Patel, Harrow

The UK is a tiny island and we've got to remember that. We cannot take the world's problems on our shoulders. Of course only "genuine" asylum seekers should be allowed entry into this country. However, I do think spouses and children should be included in the figures too. After all, our taxes are going to support them as well.
S. Cheblakian, London, UK

Is it really the case that asylum applications are going down or is it that more people are choosing to enter illegally and remain due to our lax border controls therefore not being shown on the statistics?
Bob, Cheltenham, UK

The whole system needs an overhaul and Britain needs to toughen up Phil, London

I think a multicultural society can be a good thing, but at the moment, the UK is simply full. We need to have a few years when borders are closed and immigration and asylum policies are reviewed in depth. We are under no obligation whatsoever to keep taking people in - in a humanitarian sense, we should cut the problem off at its root, not just keep trimming the leaves. We cannot keep taking in mass exoduses of people out of pity. We should be spending this money on their country, to help them help themselves out of persecution, violence, poverty and war. The whole system needs an overhaul and Britain needs to toughen up.
Phil, London

The real victims of the tightening of the asylum system are sadly those who are returned to countries they fled in genuine need of refuge. The political agenda has tossed aside humanitarian responsibility in favour of targets and statistics.
Tim , Nottingham, UK

My parents came here as skilled workers from Austria and have contributed much to this country, always paying high amounts of tax, and rarely using public amenities. We should encourage these sorts of people, productive people. Not unskilled people who cannot and do not want to integrate.
Florian, Hampshire, UK

Having worked as a contractor for the Immigration Service I have had insight of the issues the staff have to face on a day to day basis. It is about time this Government stopped 'manipulating' the figures and came clean. What with the entry of the Eastern European countries into the EU and the 'Open Door' policy for specific skills no wonder the figures show a decrease. On any given week day in Croydon would make anyone sceptical of these figures when you look at the number of migrants queuing at the National Casework Directorates offices (the other half of the Immigration Service responsible for all claims for asylum and nationalisation once they have entered the UK).
B, London

We should be proud that people from all over the world look to the UK for sanctuary Laura, London, UK

I think that in a country of 60 million, it is madness to worry about 6,000 people claiming asylum every quarter, particularly as 85% of those claimants will be rejected. We've become embarrassingly intolerant. We should be proud that people from all over the world look to the UK for sanctuary, and taking extra steps to help those who come here not demonising them.
Laura, London, UK

As I understand international treaties there should be no such thing as a genuine asylum seeker in Britain except those taken under UN resettlement. Anyone who pushes in to the country illegally had the option of applying at any safe countries on the way. They are therefore asylum shoppers and not asylum seekers. These measures are yet more window dressing. We need to detain and return illegals to their country of departure the day they are caught, no exceptions.
Mike, Calgary AB Canada

Mike from Canada is mistaken. Under the terms of the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, to which the UK is a signatory, the UK is obliged to assess all applications for asylum made in the UK or at a port of entry. Where an applicant demonstrates that they have a well-founded fear of persecution in a particular country for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, then the UK will grant Refugee Status to that person. UN resettlement schemes do identify small numbers of refugees that the UK will accept, but such schemes have no impact upon our more general international obligations, nor is it intended by the UN that they should.
Neil, London

I don't think they go far enough. The system has been abused for so long due to inaction by the government. And I for one am really upset when a failed asylum seeker has committed crimes when the opportunity to do so would not have been present if they had been repatriated sooner.
Gregory Kirby, Greenwich, London