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over 36,000 asylum seekers Creature Home offices housed in hotels New data shows they rose by two per cent year-on-year despite Labor pledging to curb their use in September.
data published by home office It was revealed on Thursday that 36,273 asylum seekers were temporarily housed in Britain hotel By the end of September. Three months ago, the figure was 32,041, showing an increase of 13 per cent since June. The latest figure also comes from the same point in September 2024, when there were 35,628 asylum seekers in hotels.
Under the Conservatives the number of asylum seekers in hotels peaked at 56,018 at the end of September 2023, but fell to 29,561 at the end of June 2024.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood recently announced Comprehensive reform of the asylum system, In which refugees will have their sanctuary grant reviewed every 30 months. The charity Refugee Council warned on Thursday that the changes would put even more pressure on an overstretched system.
In the year to September, 51,000 people arrived via irregular routes such as small boats or lorries. Of these, 89 percent were people arriving in small boats, with about 46,000 people making the dangerous journey across the Channel – a 53 percent increase on the previous year.
There were also a record number of asylum claims last year, with 110,000 people claiming asylum. This exceeds the previous recorded peak of 103,000 in 2002.
The total number of people receiving asylum assistance from the government is also increasing by two percent year-on-year, with 111,651 individuals receiving assistance at the end of September.
According to analysis by the Migration Observatory, immigration of asylum seekers to the UK was to account for 11 per cent of all immigration in the year ending June 2025, double from five per cent in 2019.
Observatory experts said that, while the Home Office has managed to reduce the backlog of asylum seekers awaiting a decision, this has resulted in a new backlog of appeals.
With people waiting in the appeals system, Labor is making slow progress on its pledge to end the use of asylum hotels.
Dr Peter Walsh, senior research fellow at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: “While the government has managed to significantly reduce the main asylum backlog, today’s data shows how difficult it is to reduce pressure on the asylum system when applications remain high and the appeals backlog continues to grow.”
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “Thousands of families and individuals are still waiting months or years for decisions – unable to rebuild their lives, find work or education, or give their children the stability they so desperately need.
“Instead of bringing certainty, Government’s new schemes Risk of pushing people into a whole new backlog. Carrying out one review after another would create more chaos: more bureaucracy, more delays and more families stuck in limbo for years to come.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are outraged at the level of illegal immigrants and asylum hotels. There are now less than 200 in use and we will close every one. Work is well underway to relocate illegal immigrants to military bases to reduce pressure on communities across the country.”