1000’s of asylum seekers may have their claims fast-tracked underneath new plans from the Residence Workplace that intention to deal with the staggering backlog of circumstances.
About 12,000 individuals from Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Libya and Yemen, who’ve utilized for asylum within the UK and are ready for a call, are understood to be eligible underneath the coverage.
Below the brand new course of, which is because of launch on Thursday, arrivals within the nation might be despatched 10-page questionnaires as an alternative of robotically being interviewed.
The types will ask asylum seekers about 40 questions, which can not all apply to them, and they are going to be requested to return them inside an preliminary 20 working days earlier than being provided an extension.
The scheme applies to grownup candidates and their youngster dependants, however not lone migrants underneath the age of 18.
Candidates might nonetheless be known as for an interview, whereas any who don’t present the required data and proof might have their declare rejected.
Officers careworn the transfer was not akin to a so-called asylum amnesty and mentioned thorough safety checks would nonetheless be carried out.
The intention of the brand new plan is to cut back the asylum backlog by the top of a yr, reflecting a pledge made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Figures on account of be printed are anticipated to indicate there are greater than 150,000 excellent asylum circumstances.
It additionally comes at a time of intense scrutiny over the immigration system.
A violent riot erupted in Knowsley, Merseyside, earlier this month, exterior the Suites Resort the place a lot of asylum seekers have been housed.
Over the 2 years, there has additionally been criticism of circumstances at websites together with Manston and Napier Barracks in Kent.
In the meantime, Mr Sunak has made a vow to cease small boats crossing the English Channel one of many central pillars for his authorities.
On the most recent plans from the Residence Workplace, Caitlin Boswell from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants mentioned: ‘People fleeing conflict and violence clearly need this government to make quicker and fairer asylum decisions, but this latest move from government is clumsy, unthinking and could put people’s security in danger.
‘No-one’s proper to refuge ought to be jeopardised as a result of they weren’t in a position to fill in a protracted unwieldy kind in a language they don’t converse.’
The Refugee Council’s chief government, Enver Solomon, mentioned strikes to cut back the backlog have been ‘welcome, but the answer is not yet more bureaucratic hurdles and threats of applications being withdrawn’, including the method ought to be ‘well thought-out’.
Labour’s shadow house secretary Yvette Cooper, mentioned: ‘It’s damning that the Residence Workplace isn’t doing this already, given Labour has been calling for the fast-tracking of circumstances – together with for protected nations like Albania – for months and the UNHCR really useful it two years in the past.
‘Meanwhile, the asylum backlog has skyrocketed – up by 50% since Rishi Sunak promised to clear it.’
In response to the most recent out there Residence Workplace figures, within the yr to September 2022, there have been 143,377 asylum functions which have been but to be decided.
Of these, 97,717 had been ready for over six months.
The numbers are anticipated to proceed to rise, with the most recent official information on account of be printed on Thursday.
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