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 today.
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.
Some 725 people, including 155 children, have been "living in limbo waiting for a decision" for more than five years, the charity said.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been under increasing pressure to fix the UK's asylum system, which she and her predecessor Priti Patel described as "broken".
The Government is spending £6.8million a day housing migrants in hotels and Home Office figures published in August showed the cost of the UK's asylum system topped £2billion a year for the first time, with the highest number of claims for two decades and record delays for people awaiting a decision.
More than 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to the UK so far this year, Government figures showed yesterday.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman is expected to sign a deal with her French counterpart today.
The annual amount paid by the UK is expected to increase to €72m (£63m) in 2022-23 - up from €62.7m (£55m), according to the Financial Times.
The number of French of officials involved will climb 50% from 200 to 300
Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said: “It is critically important that ministers take urgent action to reduce the pressure on the asylum system.
“All the evidence shows that the majority of those travelling across the Channel are fleeing war, persecution and conflict.
“The increasing numbers of people underlines the global crisis with more and more people displaced from their homes.”
One asylum seeker - known by the pseudonym Abu to protect his identity - who has been in a hotel in Yorkshire for nearly a year said he feels like he is "useless" while awaiting a decision on his asylum claim.
He fled Sudan in October 2021, leaving his family behind, after being arrested when he took part in demonstrations during the military coup to overthrow the government, the charity said.
Abu said: "I started even questioning, if I am useful person?
"When you... see how they are treating Ukrainian people, compare that, people say that it's because they are European, and we are not European, it make you feel like we are not a priority...
"Should I escape or should I face death back home in Sudan? It's kind of making you question yourself."
Care4Calais charity founder Clare Moseley told the Mirror last night: “The record number of small boat crossings this year is a direct result of the UK Government closing all safe routes to claim asylum in the UK.
“People who are brave and resilient enough to have escaped from the worst terrors in this world should not be risking their lives once again to claim asylum in the UK.
“We know it’s possible to give people safe passage - we do it for Ukrainian refugees - so why not do it for other refugees?”
The 40,000 threshold was crossed as Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick insisted a move towards more basic accommodation was necessary to remove a "pull factor" for migrants coming to Britain.
The claim came despite criticism of conditions at the Manston processing centre in Kent, where there have been outbreaks of MRSA and diphtheria.
Mr Jenrick believed the country's "generosity" towards refugees was being "abused" by people "skipping the queue".
A Home Office spokesman said: "The number of people arriving in the UK who seek asylum has reached record levels and continues to put our asylum system under incredible pressure.
"We are doing everything we can to address this issue.
“We have increased the number of caseworkers by 80% to more than 1,000, and a successful pilot scheme has seen the average number of asylum claims processed by caseworkers double, which we are now is being rolling this out across the country.
"We are also working to prioritise applications from children and young people where possible, whilst we increase overall decision maker numbers, improve training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff and capacity."
