In a move to cut the asylum backlog, the Home Office used a written statement yesterday to say it will no longer differentiate between people who arrive by irregular means, such as those who come across the Channel, and other asylum seekers, as stipulated in last year's Nationality and Borders Act. It will mean that the government will be able to speed up the processing of claims for about 55,000 people who have arrived in the UK since last June, according to refugee experts.
Of those, nearly 15,000 from high grant rate countries such as Afghanistan and Sudan can be processed using questionnaires instead of via in-person interviews.
It will also mean that people who arrived by small boat will be given improved rights such as the ability to reunite with family members.
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said that the decision was an admission that the government had failed to deliver.
This story is from the June 09, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the June 09, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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