Migrants ‘in limbo’

TENS of thousands of migrants are waiting more than a year for a decision on their asylum claim, with hundreds waiting over five years, figures show.

The number of people waiting for an initial decision on their asylum application to the UK almost quadrupled in the last five years from 29,522 in December 2017 to 122,206 in June 2022, according to Home Office data obtained by the Refugee Council under freedom of information laws.

The figure was 64,891 in December 2020, meaning it nearly doubled in 18 months.

A third of the applicants (40,913) have been waiting between one and three years while 725 people, including 155 children, have been “living in limbo waiting for a decision” for more than five years.