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  "path": "/news/migrant-crisis-asylum-seeker-backlog-record-high-doubling-one-year",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-12T15:26:29.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Britain spending one-fifth of entire aid budget housing asylum seekers as 'serious risk' exposed",
    "Bearded and wrinkled Sudanese illegal migrant is a CHILD rules immigration judge",
    "Refugees won't be housed at RAF base in quaint English village after locals protest",
    "cost the council £566,000",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
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  "textContent": "\n\n\nThe number of asylum appeals awaiting resolution in the UK has surged to an unprecedented 80,333 cases, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures released today reveal.\n\nThis represents a near-doubling from the 41,987 cases recorded at the end of December 2024.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThose in the system now face an average wait of 63 weeks for their appeal to be heard, up significantly from 48 weeks a year earlier.\n\nThe Refugee Council estimates the backlog affects approximately 104,433 individuals, based on a ratio of 1.3 people per case.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nEach case may represent a single applicant or a family group.\n\nThe charity warned that many asylum seekers remain in hotels and other temporary accommodation while awaiting outcomes.\n\nImran Hussain, director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said: \"These figures demonstrate what has been obvious for a long time - poor quality decision-making by the Home Office is forcing people into an appeals process, meaning that it can take years to reach the correct decision.\n\n\"In our frontline work, we see so many men, women and children whose hopes for safety rest on their asylum applications, but they are often met with flawed decisions that don't address the facts of their situation.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMr Hussain emphasised that those awaiting appeals cannot work or rebuild their lives, creating substantial costs for taxpayers.\n\nHe argued that refugees fleeing conflict in nations such as Sudan and Afghanistan deserve swift, accurate decisions from the outset.\n\nBetter initial assessments would clear the backlog and reduce spending on unsuitable accommodation, he said.\n\nMihnea Cuibus, researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: \"The rapidly growing appeals backlog means that even though the initial decision asylum backlog has fallen sharply in 2025, to the lowest level in five years, the total number of people receiving asylum support remains high, as does the number of asylum seekers in hotels.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Britain spending one-fifth of entire aid budget housing asylum seekers as 'serious risk' exposed\n  * Bearded and wrinkled Sudanese illegal migrant is a CHILD rules immigration judge\n  * Refugees won't be housed at RAF base in quaint English village after locals protest\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"The courts backlog is now arguably the major barrier preventing the Government from making progress on its pledge to end hotel use.\"\n\nLabour has said they are committed to eliminating asylum hotel accommodation by the end of this Parliament, potentially as early as 2029.\n\nHome Office statistics from February showed the initial decision backlog had dropped to 64,426 people, its lowest point in over five years.\n\nYet the appeals queue now exceeds this figure for the first time.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe proportion of appeals granted has fallen sharply, with just 36 per cent succeeding between October and December.\n\nThis marks a significant decline from 46 per cent during the same period in 2024 and represents the lowest success rate since early 2015.\n\nHome Office data published last month showed 30,657 asylum seekers were residing in hotel accommodation at the end of December, the lowest figure in 18 months.\n\nProtests outside some hotel sites brought the issue into public focus last year, for example the Bell Hotel protests in Epping last summer.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe latest episode in the Bell Hotel series is a failed legal battle to stop asylum seekers being housed at the accommodation in Epping cost the council £566,000.\n\nThe Conservative-led Epping Forest District Council lost its battle in November, though it announced it will continue through the legal system and appeal to the High Court ruling.\n\nIn November, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced reforms limiting rejected asylum seekers to a single appeal against removal, rather than permitting multiple challenges on different grounds.\n\nThe measures formed part of plans to restore order to the asylum system, drawing on the Danish model.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter **",
  "title": "Asylum seeker appeals backlog hits new record high after doubling in just one year"
}