Sunak promises end to asylum seeker backlog

Rishi Sunak has promised more staff to help clear the UK’s backlog of asylum seekers by end of next year.

Under a plan unveiled by the prime minister, a dedicated unit of 400 specialists will be set up to handle claims from Albanians.

UK border officials will also be posted at Albania’s main airport, under a new deal with the country.

There will also be 700 staff for a new unit to monitor small boats crossing the English Channel.

Mr Sunak also announced plans to house 10,000 asylum seekers waiting on claims in disused holiday parks, former student halls, and surplus military sites.

The asylum backlog has ballooned in recent years, with 143,377 awaiting an initial decision on their application.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Sunak said the UK would double the number of asylum caseworkers, who assess claims.

He also pledged to increase raids to enforce deportations, and tighten the UK’s definition of modern slavery, which ministers have previously claimed is being abused.

He told MPs that the issue had a “complex moral dimension” and the solution needs to be “what works and what is right” based on fairness.

It was “unfair that people come here illegally” and that it was “not cruel or unkind to break the strangle hold of criminal gangs that exploit the system”, he said.

He promised that early next year, ministers would introduce new laws to “make unambiguously clear that if you enter the UK illegally, you should not be able to remain here”.

And he said the legislation would also make it harder to make “late or spurious claims” to frustrate deportation attempts.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he welcomed the announcement of additional staff, but added there had so far been a “total failure of any co-ordinated response” to criminal trafficking gangs.

“It’s appalling they let the backlog get this big,” he told MPs.

“New staff we welcome, but can he guarantee that will result in prosecutions for those who put lives and national security at risk?” he added.