UK asylum applications drop by more than a fifth

LONDON: UK asylum applications fell by more than a fifth annually, government figures showed Thursday, as ministers grapple with the politically contentious issue and reducing record-high recent numbers alongside asylum spending.
A total of 85,891 people applied for asylum in Britain in the 12 months to the end of June, down 21 per cent year-on-year and the lowest total since the year to June 2022, according to interior ministry statistics.
Migrants who had crossed the English Channel in small boats -- a highly contentious route that has fuelled the rise of the UK far right -- accounted for 40 per cent of the applications in the most recent period.
Small boat arrivals dropped by 23 per cent across the same timeframe, with the ruling centre-left Labour Party insisting that shows the success of its policy of trying to disrupt the crossings 'upstream' in Europe.
The drop in asylum claims was coupled with a decrease in the so-called asylum backlog: the number of people awaiting an initial decision and those with appeals pending at a tribunal.
Applicants waiting for a first decision dropped 56 percent in the year to June, to 40,168 -- the lowest number since March 2019. - AFP