The immigration statistics for the first quarter of 2019 (Q1) have been released today. Key asylum figures are below and you can find the data tables here.
Applications:
- There were 31,589 asylum applications in the UK (main applicants only) in the year ending March 2019, 18% more than the previous year but below the level seen in the year ending March 2016 during the European migration crisis.
- In Q1 of 2019 there were 8,922 applications, compared to 8,639 in Q4 2018.
- In the latest year, there were notable increases in asylum applications to the UK from
- Iranian nationals, up 1,393 (56%) to 3,876
- Albanian nationals, up 1,010 (69%) to 2,477
- Eritrean nationals, up 1,244 (doubled) to 2,427
- There were 3,223 applications from UASCs, 31% more than the previous year. UASCs accounted for 10% of total asylum applications in the latest year.
Decisions:
- In the year ending March 2019, 39% of initial decisions on asylum applications were grants of asylum, humanitarian protection or alternative forms of leave (20,475 initial decisions of which 7,960 grants), compared with 30% in the previous year.
- In the last quarter, 48% of initial decisions on asylum applications were grants of protection (5,346 initial decisions, of which 2,597 were grants)
- Data from the Home Office ‘cohort’ analysis, published annually in Asylum table as_06, show that the final grant rate typically increases to around 50% following appeal (based on data from 2014 to 2016).
Pending cases:
- There were 32,309 cases pending initial decision at the end of March 2019, of which 43% (13,994) were more than 6 months old.
- This means that 42,067 people are currently in the asylum system and waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim, with 18,734 waiting for more than 6 months.
- This is the largest and lengthiest backlog recorded in asylum statistics.
Appeals:
- There were 2,356 appeals received in Q1 2019 and 2,654 appeals determined, of which 39% were allowed (1,044). This compares to Q4 2018, when there were 2,265 appeals received and 2,707 appeals determined, of which 38% were allowed (1,027).
Asylum Support:
- At the end of March 2019, 45,643 asylum seekers in the UK were in receipt of support under Section 95, up 8% from the same time the previous year.
- Of these, 42,597 (93%) were in receipt of both accommodation and subsistence, and 3,046 (7%) in receipt of subsistence only.
- An additional 3,897 individuals were in receipt of support under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, down 10% from the previous year, and 1,832 individuals were in receipt of support under Section 98 of the Act, 17% more than the year before.
Resettlement:
- In the year ending March 2019, 5,794 people were provided protection under resettlement schemes (a similar number to the previous year)
- The Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) accounted for three-quarters (4,328) of those resettled in the UK in this time.
- Since it began in 2014, 15,977 people have been resettled under the scheme.
- A further 687 were resettled under the Vulnerable Children Resettlement Scheme (VCRS) over the last year.
- Of those resettled under the VPRS and VCRS in the year ending March 2019, 173 refugees were resettled in the UK through the Community Sponsorship scheme. Since the scheme began in July 2016, 281 refugees have been resettled by community sponsor groups.
