06/01/2024
A report by i, supported by Care4Calais, has exposed chaos and cruelty in the UK asylum system caused by the race to clear a huge backlog of cases.
In the rush to hit a target set by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, officials say, the deaths of people seeking asylum went unnoticed, and people had claims removed in a 'rigged' system.
Statistics suggest that tens of thousands cases in the backlog were ‘cleared’ through Home Office ‘implicit withdrawals’, where claims are removed without an asylum seeker’s consent. There were more than 35,000 ‘non-substantive decisions’ in 2023, and Home Office sources say they believe that most of these were implicit withdrawals.
Insiders told I that the rush to fulfil the PM’s pledge led to the civil servants processing asylum claims being given individual targets for the number of decisions made or interviews held – with gift vouchers for officials who met targets, and performance management for those who didn’t.
Care4Calais Chief Executive Steve Smith said: ‘We have already seen dozens of asylum claims withdrawn due to Government error. With our support, many people’s claims have been reinstated and in some cases they have even been granted status to remain.
‘The Government needs to come clean on asylum withdrawals because what they have effectively done is dump thousands of asylum seekers, some of whom clearly have a right to asylum in this country, onto the streets in the pursuit of a political target.’
Insiders told i that the rush to fulfil the PM’s pledge led to the civil servants processing asylum claims being given individual targets for the number of decisions made or interviews held – with gift vouchers for officials who met targets, and performance management for those who didn’t.
