The announcement comes on the eve of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer seeking to grab the limelight by setting out his five-point plan for the future…reports Asian Lite News
Rishi Sunak is poised to launch a major crackdown on the asylum seeker backlog in the coming days by invalidating applications if they fail to return a new questionnaire within 20 working days.
A leaked Home Office letter shows that asylum seekers, who often speak little or no English and have limited access to help, must fill the 32-page form under the policy – which could be announced soon.
This comes as the number of outstanding claims for asylum is expected to pass 150,000 for the first time in more than 20 years because of the surge in migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declared the issue one of his top priorities, and next month, MPs are waiting for him to publish laws to bar anyone entering the UK illegally from claiming asylum in Britain.
The announcement comes on the eve of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer seeking to grab the limelight by setting out his five-point plan for the future.
The questionnaires will initially be sent to older asylum claims from the nations of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen – countries where 90% or more of claims are granted.
This will go to 12,000 claimants who applied pre-June 2022.
The Home Office’s director of asylum, protection and enforcement writes in a letter that this would “streamline” the asylum process for “claimants who are confirmed nationals of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen”.
However, the letter warns: “Should claimants approach [organisations that help asylum seekers] for assistance, we would be very grateful if you can continue the work you do with asylum seekers in the UK by supporting them with this questionnaire. Twenty working days will be provided for claimants to return this questionnaire. A reminder will be sent thereafter should the questionnaire not be returned. Extensions can be requested where required. A failure to return the questionnaire without reasonable explanation may result in an individual’s asylum claim being withdrawn in line with the published policy on withdrawing asylum claim.”
This has prompted fears that some asylum applications, including those from Afghanistan, will speak very little English and find it hard to get legal aid – and might not even get the letter if they have moved around the country a lot.
The Home Office says there are no further plans to roll this out to other groups.
In the letter, it adds: “Whilst we will begin to dispatch the asylum claim questionnaire to nationals of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen, we may extend the use of the questionnaire as a means to gather additional information from other claimants awaiting an asylum decision in due course. We will provide further details on this in due course.”
Having previously stressed the importance of in-person interviews, the Home Office is likely to face criticism that the fast-tracking has more to do with the prime minister’s promise to cut the asylum backlog, than having rigorous checks for identifying individuals with no right to be in the UK.
Last month, an asylum seeker from Afghanistan was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a young man outside a Bournemouth takeaway.
It emerged that, before coming to the UK, Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai had been convicted of murder in Serbia and was a fugitive.
The Home Office says all individuals involved in the new process will be checked against criminal databases, and will be subject to security vetting.
Figures due to be published are expected to show the total number of outstanding asylum cases is now above 150,000.
In December, Sunak pledged to halve the number of people who had been waiting longer than six months for an initial decision on their asylum application. More than 92,000 people have been identified in that group.
But Downing Street’s determination to sort out the asylum backlog appears to mean making it simpler for thousands of migrants, some of whom will have arrived in small boats, to get permission to stay in the UK.
The policy may be uncomfortable for Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who portrays herself as tough on those who claim asylum having arrived by an irregular route.
A record 45,756 people successfully reached the UK in small boats last year.
In an interview with GB News on Wednesday, Ms Braverman said: “It’s clear that we have an unsustainable situation in towns and cities around our country whereby, because of the overwhelming numbers of people arriving here illegally and our legal duties to accommodate them, we are now having to house them in hotels.”
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