Responding to the Government’s latest immigration figures released today (22 May), Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Director, said:

“Today’s figures make clear that the Home Office asylum backlog is not going away. The Government continues to refuse asylum to thousands of people seeking safety - including Afghans, Iranians and Eritreans - despite the real and ongoing dangers they face.

“Deciding people’s claims but not doing this safely simply replaces one form of unfairness and inefficiency with another. Instead of resolving the backlog, the Government is shifting it, leaving many people still in limbo only moved to the appeals process.

“Leadership requires accepting responsibilities, not passing these on – whether to other parts of the system or onto other countries.

“We urge the Government to focus on making the asylum system fair and efficient – one that assesses each claim on its true merit – rather than wrongly denying asylum to some in the cruel hope this may deter others from seeking it.”

Rates of asylum being granted to people coming from Afghanistan, Iran and Eritrea fell despite there being no real improvement in these countries. According to the immigration figures released today for year ending March 2025, only 44% of Afghans were granted asylum down from 98%; 58% Iranians down from 84% and 86% Eritreans down from 99% compared to a year ago.