Figures released on May 25 by the Government  show the backlog of the number of people waiting for a decision on an asylum claim has risen to 172,758.

The number of people waiting more than six months for a decision on their claim has risen to 128,812, a 3,200% increase on the number 12 years ago (3,831).

Some 711 people were welcomed through the UK Resettlement Scheme, a drop of 51 per cent on last year, while just 281 were accepted onto the Afghan ACRS resettlement scheme.

Tim Naor Hilton, Chief Executive of Refugee Action, said:

“The human cost of the failure to process asylum claims is staggering. Many people wait years for a decision in which time they’re forced to live in poverty, banned from work, segregated from communities and detained in run down hotels.

“The Government’s Illegal Migration Bill is going to make things much worse. It will bulldoze our post-World-War-II pledge to help refugees and create a system in which tens of thousands of people are forced to live in the margins of society.

“People will still have to make the deadly Channel crossing because this Bill creates no new routes for people to safely reach the UK while our refugee resettlement schemes are failing.

“The Government must end its addiction to hostility and deterrence, ditch its anti-refugee Bill and create a compassionate, just and accessible asylum system that benefits refugees and the taxpayer.”