Today the Government has issued its quarterly immigration statistics up to the end of June 2018.

The figures reveal that the number of overall asylum applications decreased by 1% in the year ending June 2018. The statistics also show that the countries of origin with the largest numbers of asylum applicants were Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, Albania and Eritrea. 

There has been a notable 20% fall in the number of applications by unaccompanied children seeking asylum compared to the previous year.

A total of 5,702 people were resettled in the UK in the year ending June 2018, through the four resettlement schemes. Most of these under various resettlement schemes, a decrease of 17% compared with the previous year. These statistics show the Government is on track to meet its pledge to resettle 20,000 refugees affected by the conflict in Syria by May 2020, but there remains uncertainty about what will happen after that date. Alongside Refugee Action, we continue our call for the Government to make a new commitment on refugee resettlement post 2020, supporting UNHCR’s call for refugee resettlement to be expanded to welcome at least 10,000 people affected by global conflicts and persecution each year through one consolidated programme.

In the year ending June 2018, there were 6,568 grants of asylum, a decrease of 20%. In the same period 37% of the appeals heard resulted in a positive decision. Reacting to these figures, Dr Lisa Doyle, Director of Advocacy at the Refugee Council stated:

“While the grant rate on initial decisions has declined, those who are granted asylum after an appeal stands at 37%. This shows that the Home Office are consistently getting it wrong first time, leading to people living in fear that they will be returned to the country from which they fled. These are life and death decisions and it is crucial that these decisions are correct.”  

Read our list of the top most interesting facts that came out of today’s results