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Asylum Numbers Down, New Drive On Removals – Home Secretary

24 February 2004

Applications for asylum fell dramatically in 2003 as a result of the tough measures introduced by the Government including legislation and border controls in France, the Home Secretary announced today.

The Government has already met its commitment to halve the number of applications per month from a peak in October 2002 before the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act came into force. The downward trend was continued in the last three months of the year, with a 52 per cent drop compared with the same period in 2002.

In 2003 as a whole, following a surge in applications before tougher benefits rules came into force, applications fell by 41 per cent – four times as much as the average across the rest of the EU. As a result of the significant fall in numbers, applications for state support had fallen by 60 per cent in the last three months of 2003 compared with the same period in 2002.

The Home Secretary said that a series of steps was being taken to maintain the momentum and build on the record 23 per cent increase in the number of removals in 2003:

  • a new 330 capacity removal centre near Heathrow will open in August;
  • the UK is the first country to reach agreement with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq to begin returning failed asylum seekers from April, including both voluntary and enforced returns;
  • we are working closely with the Chinese government to increase urgently the number of returns we are able to effect to China;
  • the Government is also considering whether to extend the use of biometrics in visas or on entry to the UK to countries that refuse to co-operate on returns;
  • action to tackle fraudulent claims from Somalia, including agreement to begin to return people to Somaliland and arrangements for identifying Somalis with permission to live elsewhere in the EU (laid in Parliament yesterday); and
  • the UK expects to sign an agreement soon with the Belgian authorities to extend the use of UK immigration controls to the Brussels Eurostar Service, to prevent illegal entry to the UK in the first place.

The Immigration and Nationality Department (IND) is also reviewing its enforcement activities as part of an ongoing process of improvement in order to develop the coverage and focus of its enforcement effort, assess priorities and how increased resources have been deployed, and how the Immigration Service can work most effectively with other agencies.

Mr Blunkett said:

"These figures show the very significant progress that has been made in dramatically reducing the number of asylum seekers entering the UK last year as a result of the tough reforms we have put in place. Following a surge in applications before new benefits rules came into force in January 2003, the monthly rate has been halved. This trend was continued in the last three months of the year with a drop of 52 per cent compared with the end of 2002. For the year as a whole, the numbers are down by 41 per cent.

"The backlog is the lowest for a decade, claims are falling four times as fast as elsewhere in Europe and around 80 per cent of decisions on new cases are made within two months. The number of failed asylum seekers removed has also increased by 23 per cent. This has not been easy.

"When the majority of asylum seekers destroy their documentation, removing them presents us with a major challenge – we cannot adopt a fantasy policy of parachuting people out of planes.

"Instead, we are systematically working to overcome the barriers. We are the first country in Europe to negotiate a returns agreement with Iraq, India and Sri Lanka and we have reached agreement to enable the return of a small number of people to Somaliland. Sometimes the numbers returned are low to begin with, but our evidence shows that even a small number of returns deters others from travelling to the UK.

"The highest number of applications in 2003 were from Somalia. This is a country that has suffered a good deal and we know that there are some Somali refugees seeking sanctuary here for good reason. But there is also evidence that some Somalis with permission to live in other EU countries are then also claiming asylum in the UK. This is unacceptable.  

"In addition to the agreement on returns to Somaliland, the Immigration Service will be targeting people of Somali origin at ports in order to establish the full extent of this problem and prevent further asylum abuse. We are will also be checking the fingerprints of all asylum applicants from Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia and Turkey against other EU countries’ own fingerprint databases in addition to our shared database, Eurodac.

"The progress we are making will soon begin to bring down the costs of asylum support - the last three months of 2003 show applications for support down 60 per cent compared with this time last year. However, a small increase in capital costs this year has been necessary to increase detention capacity for the new removal centre at Heathrow and to enhance border controls."

The Spring Supplementary Estimate, published today, includes the IND budget for 2003/04 of £2 billion in total. This includes an increase in capital spending costs for measures including new immigration controls in France and a new removal centre near Heathrow.

The key findings from Asylum Statistics 2003 are:

  • applications fell by nine per cent in the last three months of 2003 compared with the previous quarter (from 11,955 to 10,830), and by 52 per cent compared with the last quarter of 2002;
  • the number of asylum seekers has fallen by 41 per cent year on year from 84,130 (103,080 including dependants) in 2002 to 49,370 in 2003 (61,050 including dependants);
  • applications to the UK fell four times as much as the average of 11 per cent in the rest of the EU;
  • the number of cases awaiting an initial decision fell throughout 2003 to 24,500 by December – the lowest for a decade;
  • in 2003, six per cent of decisions granted asylum, 11 per cent granted some other form of leave to remain and eighty three per cent of claims were refused. Of those who appealed, 20 per cent were granted some form of leave at the first stage of appeal;
  • removals of failed asylum seekers increased in 2003 by 23 per cent to record levels of 12,490 (17,040 including dependants) from 13,910 including dependants in 2002; and
  • by the end of 2003 the number of asylum seekers receiving NASS support had fallen by 13 per cent to 80,120, and in the last three months of 2003 the number of new applications for support was 60 per cent less than at the same time last year. 

The additional measures being taken are:

Colnbrook removal centre to open in August 2004

The new removal centre near Heathrow, together with the refurbished Harmondsworth, will expand the amount of detention space available to more than 2,700 places by the end of the year. The Home Office is also looking to expand space at Campsfield House. Colnbrook will accommodate about 330 single males.

Enforced returns to Iraq to begin in Spring

The UK will be the first European country to begin enforced returns of failed Iraqi asylum seekers in the Spring. The pilot will allow 30 per month to be returned initially. The returns programme will be linked to a package of assistance with accommodation and employment, and will operate alongside a voluntary returns programme. The UK is also providing significant support in Iraq to develop the Iraqi immigration infrastructure.

New pressure on China to improve the process for returns

A recent secondment of Chinese officials to the Immigration Service has resulted in more than 60 documents being issued for the return of Chinese nationals and the Government is grateful for the cooperation of the Chinese government in assisting with this exercise.

However, the Government is now looking urgently at ways of increasing substantially the numbers we are able to return to China – particularly those who refuse to co-operate with the redocumentation process. The Home Secretary raised this with some of his European counterparts at a meeting with interior ministers of the major EU countries last week. The Prime Minister will also discuss this with the Chinese premier during his forthcoming visit to the UK.

Additional measures to tackle fraudulent asylum claims

Additional fingerprint checks will be conducted against the records of other countries for asylum seekers from the top five countries identified as having already lodged asylum claims or holding other status elsewhere. The Immigration Service will also target people of Somali origin at ports for a trial period to establish a better evidence base about routes and methods of entry to the UK. A new returns agreement to Somaliland will enable initially small numbers of Somalis to begin to be returned. 

The Home Office is also looking at how new technology might help to further increase the effectiveness of immigration controls.

The Asylum & Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Bill, currently before Parliament, includes measures to overcome some of the barriers to removals, including:

  • penalties of up to two years for those who destroy their documents or will not co-operate with the authorities to get new travel documents when their claims fail;
  • simplifying the appeals process to stop people lodging multiple, groundless appeals solely to frustrate removal; and
  • encouraging voluntary removal by ending benefits for families whose claims have failed and who persistently refuse to take up the offer of a paid, flight home.

Notes for Editors:

The 2003-04 budget for IND contained in the Winter Supplementary Estimate was £1.783 billion, (£1.725 billion resource budget and £58 million capital budget). Increases approved in the Spring Supplementary increase the IND budget by £217 million (£171 million resource and £46 million capital), to produce revised budgets for 2003-04 of £2 billion (£1.896 billion resource and £104 million capital).

The revised resource budget, which includes spending on support, has risen by 1.8 per cent, a one per cent cut in real terms after allowing for inflation. Costs for support are projected to begin to fall now that applications are dropping.

Capital spending includes investment in expanding detention capacity and putting UK immigration controls in France

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