This briefing examines asylum, refugee resettlement, and bespoke humanitarian schemes in the UK.
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Key Points
- In 2022, an estimated 0.6% of the UK population consisted of people who came to the country seeking asylum. The majority of these people were long-term residents who had been in the UK for more than a decade.
More… - Asylum seekers accounted for 7% of immigration to the UK in 2023, compared with 4% who arrived on bespoke humanitarian schemes for Hongkongers, Afghans and Ukrainians.
More… - In 2023, the top five most common countries of nationality for people who applied for asylum from inside the UK were Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.
More… - Data from 2023 shows that asylum success rates are very similar among young men and women.
More… - Asylum refusals are often overturned on appeal. As a result, the share of asylum seekers recognised as refugees by the end of the asylum process is substantially higher than at the initial decision stage.
More… - Between 2014 and 2023, the waiting time for an initial asylum decision increased significantly, generating a backlog in the processing of claims, but data from the first quarter of 2024 indicate that the backlog is beginning to fall.
More… - Asylum seekers waiting for decisions are more concentrated in certain local authorities in the UK than others. In contrast, Ukrainians on bespoke humanitarian routes, are more evenly distributed across the country.
More… - Despite being expensive for the government and considered inadequate in terms of integration, the use of contingency accommodation to house asylum seekers – particularly in hotels – has significantly increased since the pandemic.
More… - The financial cost of operating the UK’s asylum system reached a record high of £4 billion in the financial year 2022/23.
More… - The value of asylum support payments fell 29% in real terms (that is, accounting for inflation) between 2000 and 2023, despite nominal increases.
More… - In 2023, the UK ranked fifth in the absolute number of asylum claims received when compared to EU+ countries. But when adjusted for population size, it falls to 20th place.
More…
- In 2022, an estimated 0.6% of the UK population consisted of people who came to the country seeking asylum. The majority of these people were long-term residents who had been in the UK for more than a decade.
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Understanding the Policy
Click to read more.Asylum
Asylum is the protection that is granted by a nation-state to a person who has fled their country to escape a serious threat to their life or liberty. People granted this protection, which arises out of the United Nations 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (the “Refugee Convention”), are called refugees. The word refugee is also used more generally to refer to anyone who has fled their country to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster, even if they have not been granted protection under the Refugee Convention.
The Refugee Convention defines a refugee as a person who, “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country”. An asylum seeker (or asylum applicant) is a person who has applied for recognition as a refugee under the Refugee Convention, to which over 140 nations are signatories.
There is no law that says asylum seekers must make their asylum claim in the first safe country they arrive in after leaving their country of origin. However, under an EU law called the Dublin III Regulation, asylum seekers could, in theory, be transferred to the first EU member state in which they arrived after leaving their origin country. Because of Brexit, the UK is no longer a part of the Dublin arrangements but has introduced new laws on “inadmissibility” to bar people from claiming asylum in the UK if they had an earlier presence in or connection to a safe third country.
To claim asylum in the UK, a person must be in the UK. It is not possible to apply from outside the country, and there is no asylum visa to enable people to travel to the UK legally to apply for asylum. Under the Illegal Migration Act, which became law in July 2023 but is not fully in force, anyone entering the UK irregularly, such as by small boat, lorry, or by using false documents, will not have their asylum claims evaluated (see the Migration Observatory commentary on UK policies to deter people from claiming asylum). This means that people who do not have visa-free travel and who do not come on a visa for other purposes, such as tourism or study, do not have a direct means to seek asylum in the UK.
In cases where an asylum claim is successfully lodged, there are three possible outcomes. First, an applicant can be recognised as a refugee and granted asylum with five years’ permission to stay in the UK, after which they may apply, free of charge, for permanent residence. Second, the applicant is judged not to qualify for refugee status but granted permission to stay in the UK for humanitarian or other reasons. These statuses include humanitarian protection (HP); discretionary leave (DL); leave under family or private life rules; and unaccompanied asylum-seeking child (UASC) leave. Third, the asylum claim can be refused. If a claim is refused, the applicant can appeal against the initial decision and, if the appeal is successful, be granted permission to stay.
All applications request protection for a ‘main applicant’, and some include requests for protection for the main applicant’s dependent family members as well, specifically their spouse, civil partner, or unmarried partner, and any children under 18 but not dependent parents. The dependants on an application receive the same outcome as the main applicant (Immigration Rules, Paragraph 349).
The Home Office states that asylum in the UK should be sought at the first available opportunity, on arrival at a port of entry. Those who do not claim asylum on arrival can instead apply in person for asylum at the Asylum Intake Unit in London.
Asylum seekers’ right to work and benefits
Asylum seekers are not generally permitted to work in the UK while their claim is being considered. If they are destitute, they can apply for free accommodation, as well as asylum support, which is set at £49.18 per person per week (around £7 per day). The Home Office may grant an asylum applicant permission to work only if both (1) their asylum claim has been outstanding for more than 12 months through no fault of the applicant, and (2) the job is on the Immigration Salary List (which includes social care and some skilled trades). Campaign groups have argued that asylum seekers and their adult dependants should be able to work in any job after having waited six months for a decision on their claim or further submission have argued that asylum seekers and their adult dependants should be able to work in any job after having waited six months for a decision on their claim or further submission. Asylum seekers are, however, permitted to study while awaiting a decision on their asylum claim. Asylum seekers are, however, permitted to study while awaiting a decision on their asylum claim.
Dispersal
Since 2000, the UK has operated a policy of dispersal across the UK of asylum applicants who require accommodation, to prevent the London and the South East being overburdened. Asylum applicants have no say in where they are sent to live while awaiting a decision on their asylum claim. Instead, to determine where asylum seekers are accommodated, negotiations take place between local authorities, the Home Office, and third-party contractors who are responsible for securing private rental accommodation.
Refugee family reunion
The UK allows an adult granted refugee status or humanitarian protection to be joined in the UK by their spouse or partner and any of their children who are under 18 if they formed a part of the family unit before the refugee fled their country. However, parents, grandparents, siblings, or children who are 18 or over are not eligible to join under the refugee family reunion route. Nor are unaccompanied minors who have been granted refugee status generally permitted to be joined by their parents. In addition, LBGT+ refugees may have difficulty proving an unmarried partnership if living together with a same-sex partner was unlawful or unsafe in their country of origin. Campaign groups have argued for a broader definition of who qualifies as a ‘family member’ for the purposes of refugee family reunion.
Recent policy developments regarding asylum
In March 2021, the UK government published a policy statement for its New Plan for Immigration, which outlined an overhaul of the UK’s “broken” asylum system. A central aim of the policy was to tackle people crossing the English Channel in small boats from France. A major part of this policy was introduced via the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, which penalised certain refugees for their method of entering the UK (a policy that was suspended in July 2023) and introduced tougher criminal sanctions for irregular entry to the UK.
The Illegal Migration Act 2023 introduced even tougher restrictions on asylum seekers who enter the UK without authorisation. The legislation, which became law on 20 July 2023 but has not been brought fully into force, makes several important changes. It determines that most asylum claims from people who entered the country in irregular ways will not be processed. The Act places a duty on the Home Secretary’s responsibility to arrange for their removal to “safe third countries”. If removal is not possible, people could stay in the UK indefinitely without legal status unless they qualify for an exemption. The Act also lets the government detain asylum seekers more easily. Importantly, it removes many protections for victims of modern slavery and trafficking, including their right stay in the UK. For further information, see our commentary, UK policies to deter people from claiming asylum.
Under the Nationality and Borders Act and then the Illegal Migration Act, the UK would no longer consider the asylum claims of people who entered the country by irregular means, such as by small boat. But because these claims would not be processed, the government would not be able to remove these asylum seekers to their countries of origin (see our commentary on Diminishing returns). This is due to a principle called “non-refoulement,” which means that countries cannot send people back to a place where they would be in danger or where their human rights might be violated.
The government announced in April 2022 that it would send asylum seekers who entered the UK irregularly to Rwanda, which it considered a “safe third country”. In November 2023, the UK’s Supreme Court ruled the Rwanda deal unlawful because Rwanda is not a safe country to which asylum seekers can be removed. In response, the Conservative government secured the passage of new legislation stating that Rwanda is a safe country and agreed a treaty with Rwanda with safeguards against refoulment. It intends to begin removals soon after the general election on 4 July 2024, although the Labour Party says it would scrap the scheme if it were to form the next government. See our commentary on Rwanda’s policy financial implications and our Q&A on the Rwanda policy.
As part of the suite of policies aimed at reforming the asylum system and reducing its costs, the government also launched in 2021 the “Asylum and Protection Transformation Programme”. This initiative aimed to clear the backlog of asylum applications that had not received a response by the time the Nationality and Borders Act came into effect – the so-called “legacy backlog” (See our briefing on the Asylum Backlog). It includes several components, such as hiring more caseworkers, streamlining asylum claims, and increasing the supply of cheaper accommodation for asylum seekers.
Refugee resettlement
Refugee resettlement is separate from the asylum process. In the asylum process, people must apply for asylum whilst in the UK. By contrast, it is not possible to apply for refugee resettlement. Instead, refugees are selected by the UN for resettlement, and transferred to the UK with the agreement of the Home Office, where they receive refugee status on arrival. Prior to 2021, the UK operated four resettlement schemes, which have since been merged into the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS). Currently, the UKRS operates along with the Community Sponsorship Scheme and the Mandate Scheme. The key distinction between these schemes is how accommodation and integration support are provided. In the UKRS, local authorities lead in providing integration support to resettled refugees upon arrival. In the Mandate Scheme, selected refugees must have family members settled in the UK who are responsible for supporting and accommodating them. In the Community Sponsorship Scheme, community sponsors are responsible for refugees’ integration and accommodation.
In January 2022, the UK launched the Afghan Citizens Relocation and Resettlement Schemes (ACRS and ARAP). However, in this briefing, these are analysed separately from traditional resettlement routes because they do not necessarily operate via UN referrals and focus only on one nationality.
Bespoke humanitarian routes
In addition to asylum and refugee resettlement, since 2021 the UK has launched a series of bespoke humanitarian routes for people of specific nationalities in need of protection. Unlike traditional asylum or resettlement processes, which are usually broad and standardised, bespoke humanitarian routes are tailored to particular groups or circumstances. Each of these routes has different eligibility criteria and grants people different rights and pathways to permanent settlement.
The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) or BN(O) visa was introduced in January 2021 following the Chinese government’s imposition of the National Security Law in Hong Kong and is directed at British National Overseas citizens and their dependents from Hong Kong. For more details, see Q&A: The new Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa).
The Afghan Relocations and Resettlement Schemes (ARAP and ACRS) were launched in April 2021 following the withdrawal from Afghanistan of British and US armed forces and the rise of the Taliban. They are directed at people who worked as staff for the UK in Afghanistan, those who fled to the UK under the evacuation in summer 2021, and other vulnerable people who are considered to be at risk in Afghanistan or neighbouring countries. For more detail on the schemes see Afghan asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.
The Ukraine Schemes were introduced in March 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Ukraine Family Scheme allows Ukrainian citizens and their close family members to apply for a visa, free, to come to the UK to join their relatives, who must be either British citizens or have permanent residence. The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, also known as Homes for Ukraine, allows Ukrainian nationals and their immediate family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor. For more details on the Ukraine schemes, see Ukrainian Migration to the UK.
This briefing focuses on asylum and resettlement schemes. It also includes overall data on bespoke humanitarian routes and how they compare with traditional protection pathways.
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Understanding the Evidence
In this briefing, references to the EU or EU+ exclude the UK, but include Switzerland and the three additional EEA countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. ... Click to read more.Data on foreign-born UK residents’ main reason for moving to the UK come from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the largest official household survey in the UK. Only one ‘main’ reason for migration is recorded, though in practice people may have more than one reason for moving. The data reflect self-reported reasons and will not necessarily match people’s legal immigration status.
Data on the number of asylum applicants and grants of asylum-related leave come from administrative databases of the Home Office. In this briefing, where we refer to asylum seekers or asylum applicants (i.e., the number of people who claim asylum), we include both main applicants and dependants. ‘Asylum applications’ refers to main applicants only. When this briefing discusses “grants”, it is typically with respect to grants of “asylum-related protection”, which comprises grants of asylum (refugee status) as well as any other grant of permission to stay, such as humanitarian protection or discretionary leave.
To calculate the success rate of asylum claims, we cannot simply divide the number of positive initial decisions in any given year by the total number of applications received that year. This is because most asylum decisions in any given year will relate to claims made in earlier years, and because refused claims can be appealed. Therefore, to examine the success rate of asylum claims, this briefing analyses Home Office data on the ‘final outcomes’ of applications. These data provide the outcomes of a ‘cohort’ of applications (i.e., all those submitted in the same year), taking into account the results of appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (though not higher courts). In recognising that initial refusals can be overturned on appeal, these data provide a better indication of success rates than data on initial decisions. These estimates of asylum claim success rates exclude withdrawn applications and those that are still pending because these applications have not received a decision.
In this briefing, we also provide data on people who were offered bespoke humanitarian routes to the UK. These include those with Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine visas, BN(O) status holders and Afghan nationals who have been resettled through the ARAP and ACRS routes. Information on Afghan nationals resettled under these special schemes has been excluded from the overall resettlement data and analysed separately.
The only available data on the location of asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their claim is for those who are receiving government support. There are three types of this support. ‘Section 4’ support is for applicants whose claims have been finally refused but are destitute and cannot leave the UK. ‘Section 95’ support is for asylum seekers who have an asylum claim or appeal outstanding and failed asylum seekers who had children in their household when their appeal rights were exhausted. Finally, ‘Section 98’ support is a type of temporary support for asylum seekers who have applied for Section 95 support and are awaiting a decision on that application.
Section 95 support includes the provision of accommodation, money for subsistence, or both. These data are broken down by region and local authority. The data on asylum seekers’ location presented in this briefing include all those on Section 4, Section 95 or Section 98 support and not just those in dispersed accommodation. This support is given only to asylum seekers who are destitute and so these data may not reflect the location of all asylum seekers. Local authority data for those in receipt of Sections 4, 95, and 98 support are based on the registered address of the asylum seeker, which may not be the location at which the individual regularly resides.
For resettled refugees, location data are provided for those who arrived between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2023 and refer to people’s initial receiving local authority, which they may later leave. The location of Ukrainian and Afghan nationals offered a humanitarian visa is based on data on arrivals under the Homes for Ukraine and ACRS/ARAP schemes, respectively. Currently, there is no available data on the place of residence of BN(O) visa holders.
People who originally came to the UK to seek asylum made up an estimated 4% of the UK’s foreign-born population in 2022 and 0.6% of the UK’s total resident population
An estimated 387,000 foreign-born people living in the UK in 2022 said they originally came to the UK to seek asylum, according to Migration Observatory analysis of the Annual Population Survey. This made up 4% of the UK’s 10 million foreign-born population in 2022, and 0.6% of the UK’s total 2022 resident population of around 67 million. Of these, 54% had lived in the UK for sixteen years or more (Figure 1).
The profile of people seeking asylum in the UK differs depending on how long they have been in the country. Men constitute a larger percentage of those who arrived recently and have been living in the UK for less than six years, as opposed to those who have been in the country for 20 years or more. Asylum seekers who arrived recently are generally older at the time of their arrival compared to those who arrived earlier (Figure 1).
Figure 1
As explained in ‘Understanding the Evidence’ above, these data are self-reported. This means that people arriving as resettled refugees or on bespoke humanitarian routes, as well as those lodging an asylum claim in the UK, may have given “seeking asylum” as their main reason for coming to the UK.
In 2023, asylum accounted for 7% of immigration to the UK, compared with 4% who arrived on bespoke humanitarian schemes
In 2023, long-term international migration to the UK was estimated to be around 1.2 million. Of these, 81,000 came to claim asylum, which is equivalent to around 7% of all immigrants in that year.
Changes over time in the number of people claiming asylum in the UK are driven in large part by geopolitical events since asylum seekers come mainly from countries with political and military conflicts. For example, the spike in people who came to the UK to seek asylum from 1998 to 2002 were mainly nationals of Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia, which were then sites of war (Figure 2).
Figure 2
In 2021 and 2022, the UK introduced a series of bespoke humanitarian schemes targeted at specific nationalities: Ukrainians, Afghans and BN(O)s from Hong Kong (see ‘Understanding the Policy’ above). In 2022, the number of beneficiaries of the schemes far surpassed the number of resettled refugees and people granted asylum in any year since 1979. Although visa issuances under these programmes fell significantly in 2023, they still exceeded the number of resettled refugees and in-country asylum grants. Humanitarian schemes accounted for around 4% of immigration to the UK in 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Figure 3
In 2023, the top five most common countries of nationality of people who applied for asylum from within the UK were Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh
Table 1 shows the fifteen most common countries of nationality of people (main applicants and dependants) who applied for asylum in the UK in 2023.
The share of applications that ultimately result in a grant of asylum or other permission to stay varies significantly by nationality. For example, looking at applications received across the three-year period 2019 to 2021, the share of Syrian and Eritrean nationals who had received a grant of asylum or other permission by September 2023 was 91% (after appeal), while for Indian nationals, it was 6% (Table 1).
Table 1
The success rate of asylum applications at initial decision increased sharply from 2018 to 2022 before falling in 2023
In 2022, the share of asylum applications receiving a grant at initial decision rose to a record high of 76%, which is much higher than in previous years. In 2018, the initial decision grant rate was 33% (Figure 4). Many factors could have driven the change. One is a change in the composition of applicants. For example, in recent years, there has been an increase in nationalities whose asylum application success rate is higher than the average, such as Iranians, Syrians and Eritreans (Table 1).
However, in 2023, the percentage of successful applications at the initial decision stage dropped to 67% (Figure 4). This decline in overall success rates may be linked to policy changes and changes in the composition of applicants. In 2023, 21% of all refusals were of Albanian nationals who historically have had low asylum success rates in the UK, but whose applications peaked in 2022 (Table 2).
Figure 4
In 2023, asylum success rates at initial decision were very similar among men and women
Data from 2023 show that asylum success rates at initial decision were very similar among men and women in all age groups except the over-70s (Figure 4). For example, 70% of men aged 18-29 were granted asylum or another legal status, compared to 68% of women aged 18-29.
An important factor that increases the share of female refugees in the UK is that following grants of asylum, many young male refugees will go on to be joined by their female partners through refugee family reunion. From 2012 to 2023, 81% of adults receiving refugee family reunion visas were women. As a result, after accounting for family reunion, the gender balance of those granted protection becomes more even over time. Taken together, women made up 36% of adults granted asylum-related status or refugee family reunion between 2012 and 2023 (Table 2). Note that these figures exclude asylum applicants who are initially refused but are successful on appeal, as the immigration statistics do not include a gender breakdown for this group.
Table 2
Taking appeals into account, 66% of asylum applications submitted from 2018 to 2020 inclusive are estimated to have received a grant of asylum-related protection by June 2022 – up from 56% at initial decision
All initial decisions by the Home Office on asylum claims can be appealed against, which ultimately increases the share of successful claims. Of all applications (main applicants) received in the three-year period from 2018 to 2020 with a known outcome as of June 2022 (this excludes withdrawn and pending applications), 56% resulted in a grant of asylum or other permission to stay at initial decision.
Over this period, 57% of initial decisions were appealed. Most appeals are against refusals, but some appeals are against positive decisions to seek a stronger form of permission to stay, such as refugee status rather than humanitarian protection. Of these appeals with a known outcome (excluding pending and withdrawn appeals), 45% were successful. This increased the grant rate from 56% at initial Home Office decision to 66% after appeal to the First-tier tribunal (Figure 5).
Figure 5
For applications received between 2011 to 2018 with known outcomes as of June 2022, successful appeals increased success rates by between 13 and 21 percentage points each year (Figure 6). Since 2019, the gap between initial grant rates and grant rates after appeal has significantly narrowed. This is because initial grant rates were already high and there were fewer appeals being submitted.
Changes in grant rates following appeals are, in part, the result of changes in the success rate of appeals. The share of concluded appeals that were successful increased from a low of 19% in 2004 to a high of 49% in 2023.[1]
Figure 6
The share of asylum applications that received an initial decision within six months fell from 87% in Q2 2014 to 6% in Q3 2023
The time it takes for asylum seekers to receive an initial decision on their application has increased significantly in recent years. In Q2 2014, 87% of applications received an initial decision within six months, compared to 6% in Q3 2023.
Figure 7
Between 2018 and 2022 the UK’s asylum backlog increased sharply from 27,000 to 132,000 applications. It fell by 28% in 2023 following several government measures to process applications faster.
The asylum backlog has increased substantially in recent years due to an increase in applications and applications taking longer to process. On 30 June 2023, around 175,500 people were awaiting an initial decision on their asylum claim (including main applicants and dependants) – a more than eighteen-fold increase in the number awaiting an initial decision on 30 June 2010 (Figure 8). Of the 175,500 people awaiting an initial decision from the Home Office on June 2023, 80% had been waiting for more than six months.
Recent data show a change in this trend. In the first quarter of 2024, the number of people waiting for a decision decreased by 31% compared to the same quarter of 2023. This reduction follows the government’s recent efforts to clear the legacy backlog (see the Understanding the Policy section and our briefing on The UK’s Asylum Backlog).
Figure 8
Research shows that longer asylum waiting times have negative impacts on long-term employment outcomes for asylum seekers and that being unable to work while waiting for a decision is also likely to hinder long-term integration.
The distribution of asylum seekers and resettled refugees is uneven across the UK
Asylum seekers are unevenly distributed across the UK. The majority are concentrated in London, the North West of England and West Midlands. Ten local authorities host 22% of this population (Figure 9). This distribution is partly influenced by dispersal policies, which incentivise contractors to house people in places where accommodation is cheaper.
The distribution of asylum seekers contrasts with that of people who came under the Ukraine schemes, who are more highly dispersed across the UK. The ten authorities with the highest number of Ukrainian nationals on the Home for Ukraine Schemes host only 11% of this population. This is because the scheme works around individual families’ availability to support a Ukrainian citizen. The individual local authorities hosting the highest number of Ukrainian nationals are located in the South West and South East regions of England: Buckinghamshire, Somerset, and Barnet. Scotland hosts more of this population than any other region of the UK (Figure 9).
Figure 9
The use of contingency accommodation to house asylum seekers has increased substantially since the pandemic
Destitute asylum seekers are provided with different types of accommodation, including initial, dispersed, and contingency accommodation. Dispersed accommodation refers to self-contained housing where nuclear families are allowed to stay together. Initial accommodation is usually a hostel-type environment, intended to be used as a first solution before transfer to dispersed accommodation.
Contingency accommodation is provided by the Home Office to host asylum seekers who are not able to move to dispersed accommodation within three to four weeks. It includes the use of hotels. This solution has become increasingly common since the pandemic. In the first quarter of 2020, only 5% of supported asylum seekers were housed in contingency, initial or other non-dispersed accommodation. By the first quarter of 2024, 41% were in this type of housing (Figure 10). Among those in contingency, initial, and other non-dispersed accommodation as of March 2024, the majority (68%) were in hotels.[2]
As part of the Asylum and Protection Transformation Programme, and as a means to reduce the cost of the asylum system, the Home Office has enforced more room-sharing in hotels. There have been concerns raised about the safety of room-sharing for vulnerable asylum seekers. In addition, the Conservative government pledged that it would start housing more people in repurposed accommodation, such as unused military sites. In the first quarter of 2024, only 3% of all places used to house asylum seekers consisted of ‘Other’ types of contingency accommodation.[3]
Figure 10
The financial cost of operating the UK’s asylum system reached around £4bn in the financial year 2022/23
The financial cost of the UK’s asylum system has increased substantially in recent years: from £538 million in the financial year 2011/12 to £3,967 million ten years later in 2022/23 (Figure 11).
Figure 11
Despite nominal increases, in real terms, the asylum support payment level in 2023 was 29% lower than in 2000
Under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, destitute asylum seekers are entitled to free accommodation and a weekly cash allowance to cover their essential living needs. The Home Office regularly reviews the level of the weekly cash allowance and has changed it 13 times since 2000 (Figure 12: Nominal payment).
When introduced in 2000, asylum seekers were entitled to one of a variety of different payments, depending on their age and whether they were a lone parent or part of a couple. In 2015, the government replaced these different payments by a single payment level for all destitute asylum seekers.
Increases in support payments have not kept up with inflation. Since the single asylum support payment was introduced in 2015, the level of the payment has fallen in real terms (Figure 12: Inflation-adjusted). In real terms, the payment level in 2023 of £6.77 per day was 29% lower than in 2000. The daily rate paid to a single adult in 2000, £5.22, bought goods and services that would today cost £9.
Figure 12
Compared against EU countries, the UK ranked 5th for number of asylum claims received in 2023, but 20th if adjusted for population size
In 2023, the UK received around 84,000 in-country asylum applicants, the fifth highest when compared with the EU+ (the EU-27 plus Switzerland and the three EEA countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway). When adjusted by population size, it received the 20th highest number of applications: 12.5 per 10,000 residents.
In the same year, the UK granted asylum or another form of legal status to around 62,000 people (at initial decision, excluding appeals), placing it second in the league table. Germany ranks first on both measures, receiving around 351,000 asylum applicants in 2023 and granting asylum-related protection to around 135,000 people at initial decision that year (Figure 13).
Adjusted for population size, the UK ranks 10th when compared with the EU+, having granted protection in 2023 to nine asylum seekers per 10,000 of its resident population.
Figure 13
These figures do not include people given protection under refugee resettlement programmes. Under such programmes, the UK resettled around 31,000 refugees from 2012 to 2022, excluding the Afghan resettlement schemes and Ukraine/Hong Kong visa programmes. While the UK ranked first in the league table in 2019 compared to the EU+, it fell to 6th place in 2022 (Figure 14). During that year, the UK resettled 1,163 people, whereas Sweden, ranking first in the measure, resettled 5,000 people. When adjusting for population size, the UK ranks 10th on the list. As data on resettlement for 2023 is not yet available for most EU countries, this comparison is provided for 2022.
Figure 14
When looking at all people given protection in 2022 – including through both the in-country asylum route and through refugee resettlement – the UK ranked 5th among EU+ countries (Figure 15). The UK falls to 20th place in the ranking when adjusting for population size.
Figure 15
Evidence Gaps and Limitations
We do not know how many people the UK has ever granted asylum or another form of asylum-related protection to, because published statistics go back only as far as 1979. Moreover, these published statistics record the outcomes of initial decisions only and do not take into account appeals, which increase the number of people that are ultimately granted asylum-related permission to stay.
The government does not provide regular statistics on asylum claimants broken down by their method of entry into the UK. Therefore, we do not know what share arrived by visa-free travel, on a visa, using fake documents, or by clandestine means, such as by small boat or stowing away on a lorry.
Nor do we have clear information on how long asylum applications take. Data are provided on the share of applications receiving an initial decision within 6 months, and on the number of applications currently pending, but it is not possible using existing data to calculate how long it takes the ‘average’ asylum application to receive an initial decision or final outcome.
There is also limited information on what happens to refused asylum seekers. Some depart with the assistance or oversight of the government, for which data are available. However, others depart without notifying the authorities, or remain in the UK as irregular migrants (see the Migration Observatory briefing, Irregular migration in the UK). Data on people departing the UK have improved in the past few years, in part due to the introduction of ‘exit checks’ in 2015. However, significant data gaps remain for earlier cohorts.
Footnotes
[1] Migration observatory analysis of Home Office, Immigration Statistics, Table Asy_D06 December 2023
[2] Migration observatory analysis of Home Office Immigration Statistics, Table Asy_D11 December 2023
[3] Migration observatory analysis of Home Office Immigration Statistics, Table Asy_D11 December 2023
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Media Coverage
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The Guardian online (22 Feb 2017)
UK risks legitimising Sudan’s rights abuses with migration talks, MPs warn
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The Guardian online (22 Feb 2017)
