MIGRANT BOAT ARRIVALS SOAR

Overall applications for asylum have also surged

INCREASING numbers of people are seeking asylum in the UK, with a refugee charity saying more wars and oppressive Governments are driving the rise. The number of small boat crossings more than trebled in January to March this year compared to the same period in 2021. Overall asylum applications in the three months had also seen a big increase compared to the previous year.

Data from the Home Office shows 4,540 people were detected arriving on small boats between January and March 2022. This is a 233% increase on 1,363 in the same period last year, and the highest January to March figures recorded.

Provisional figures for May show 2,871 people arriving on small boats, a 76% increase on last year. As only detected crossings can be counted, some of this increase may be explained by improved patrols and enforcement in the channel.

In the first three months of this year, 15,452 people applied for asylum. This is a 123% increase from 6,939 people during the same period in 2021 This follows 56,495 asylum applications in 2021, an 18-year high.

The number of children seeking asylum has also risen considerably, with 2,939 applications in January to March this year, compared to 1,229 a year before.

There had been 3,672 applications submitted by under 18s between October and December 2021, which was the highest number since records began in 2009. Nearly a third of children arrived unaccompanied.

This comes amidst controversial government plans to deter asylum seekers, including transportation to Rwanda, plans for the Royal Navy to patrol the channel and electronically tagging applicants. Speaking in April, the Prime Minister said “Our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not.”

The largest group of asylum seekers in January to March 2022 were Afghans at 1,832, 12% of all applications and the highest number in nearly 20 years.

People from Afghanistan were also found to have crossed the channel more than any other nationality in the first quarter of this year, with 1,094 individuals recorded, nearly matching the 1,323 that crossed during the entirety of 2021. Afghans have consistently been one of the top ten nationalities seeking asylum, with notable increases during the initial invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the withdrawal of troops last year.

Tim Naor Hilton, Chief Executive of

Refugee Action, said: “More wars and oppressive Governments are driving an increase in the number of people forced to flee their homes so it’s no surprise there are more people seeking asylum in the UK and elsewhere.

“People must physically be on UK soil to claim asylum in the UK. But too many people have no way to get here other than to cross the Channel – flimsy boats now preferred by smugglers to the backs of lorries – because the Government refuses to create more routes for refugees to find safety here.”

He said the failure to provide a way for Afghans to flee the Taliban has led to the group becoming the most common nationality crossing the Channel, with figures showing just two out of more than 3,000 applications to the Government’s Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme have been processed since the start of April.

As well as this, he said the Government’s global UK Resettlement Scheme has welcomed fewer than 1,500 people since the start of 2021.

The Home Office did not respond to requests for comment.

The asylum figures do not include Afghans allowed entry into the UK through the ARAP, as this is separate to the regular asylum process.

Ukrainian refugees are similarly excluded, as most have been allowed entry through government schemes rather than the normal asylum seeking process. The Home Office confirmed that 133,300 of 155,600 Ukrainian visa applications have been granted as of June 14.