Asylum Q2 April/May/June 2017

In the year ending June 2017, 16,211 people were granted asylum, resettlement or an alternative form of protection. There were 9,350 grants of asylum or an alternative form of protection following an in-country application, and an additional 6,861 people were provided with protection and support under a resettlement scheme in the UK. In total, this is a 7% increase from 15,108 in the previous year.

Asylum applications in the UK from main applicants decreased by 25% to 27,316 in the year ending June 2017.

There were 2,944 asylum applications from UASC in the year ending June 2017, a 17% decrease compared to the previous year (3,545). Overall, UASC applications represented 11% of all main applications for asylum.

Of the 22,982 initial decisions on asylum applications from main applicants, 34% were grants of asylum or an alternative form of protection, compared to 38% in the previous year. A separate Home Office analysis shows that for the years 2013 to 2015, on average 37% of decisions were granted initially, but this proportion rose to 52% after appeal.

There were 1,096 grants of asylum or an alternative form of protection to Syrian nationals at initial decision in the year ending June 2017 and an additional 5,637 Syrian nationals were granted humanitarian protection under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS). Since this scheme began in 2014, a total of 8,535 people have been resettled.

In 2016, the largest number of applications for asylum came from nationals of Iran (4,184), followed by Pakistan (2,870), Iraq (2,672), Afghanistan (2,329), and Bangladesh (1,944).

A UASC is a person under 18, or in the absence of documentary evidence establishing age, appears to be under 18, who is applying for asylum in his or her own right and has no relative or guardian in the United Kingdom.

There were 2,944 asylum applications from UASC in the year ending June 2017, a 17% decrease compared to the previous year (3,545). Overall, UASC applications represented 11% of all main applications for asylum.

On 7 September 2015, an expansion to the existing VPRS was announced. Through this expansion, it was proposed that 20,000 people in need of protection be resettled in the UK by 2020. So far 8,535 people have been granted humanitarian protection under the VPRS since the scheme began, and in the year ending June 2017, 5,637 people were resettled under the VPRS across 246 different local authorities. Around half (51%) of those resettled under the VPRS were under 18 years old (2,872), and around half (47%) were female (2,670).

Including dependants, there were an estimated 914,900 asylum applications to the EU in the year ending June 2017, a decrease of 40% compared to the year ending June 2016 (1,536,400).

Country of application             Total applications        Total positive decisions
Germany                                             722,265                       433,910
Italy                                                     121,185                       35,400            
France                                                75,990                         28,750
Greece                                                49,875                         2,710
Austria                                                 39,860                         30,370
United Kingdom                                   39,357                         9,944

The outcomes for the 30,747 main applicants who applied for asylum in 2016, as with previous cohorts, will be updated in subsequent annual reports. However, as at May 2017, it is estimated that 7,370 (24%) main applicants were ultimately granted asylum, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave, either at initial decision or after appeal; 11,163 (36%) were refused or withdrawn; and two-fifths (40%; 12,214) were awaiting confirmation of an initial decision or appeal outcome.

Source: Home Office Statistical Release Q2/2017 - http://bit.ly/2vioK

Deportation/Detention Q2 April/May/June 2017

The number of people entering detention in year ending June 2017 decreased by 12% to 27,819 from 31,593 in the previous year. Over the same period there was a 13% decrease in those people leaving detention (from 32,067 to 27,862).

As at the end of June 2017, 2,994 (of which, 2 were children) people were in detention, 4% more than the number recorded at the end of June 2016 (2,878). In addition, as at 26 June 2017, there were 360 detainees held in prison establishments in England and Wales solely under immigration powers as set out in the Immigration Act 1971 or UK Borders Act 2007.

The number of children entering detention in year ending June 2017 was 48, 65% lower than the previous year (137). This was a 96% fall compared with the beginning of the data series in 2009 (1,119).

The proportion of detainees being returned or voluntarily departing from the UK on leaving detention increased from 44% in year ending June 2016 to 48% in year ending June 2017.

The total number of enforced returns from the UK, including those not directly from detention, decreased by 3% to 12,542 in the year ending June 2017 compared with 12,944 in the previous year. This includes 10,642 enforced removals and 1,900 other returns from detention. In the same period, there were 22,822 voluntary returns (excluding returns from detention).

Of the 12,542 enforced returns in year ending June 2017, there were 1,970 enforced returns of people who had previously sought asylum, down 30% from the previous year (2,813).

In the year ending June 2017, provisional data show that 6,071 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) were returned compared to 6,064 in the previous year (see Returns table rt_06q). This is the one of the highest number since the series began in 2009 and reflects increasing use of other forms of FNO returns, including those where an offence was committed outside the UK.

In the same period, over a third (35%) of people leaving detention had been detained for 7 days or less (9,717). Of these, 56% (5,401) were returned; 42% (4,100) were granted temporary admission or release (TA/TR); and the remainder were either bailed (52), granted leave to enter (LTE) or leave to remain (LTR) (38), or released for other reasons (126). Of the 200 people detained for 12 months or more, 33% were bailed, 32% were returned, and 32% were granted TA/TR.

As at 30 June 2017, the longest length of time a person had been currently detained for was 1,514 days.

The highest number of enforced returns in the year ending June 2017 was for Romanian nationals (1,847; 15% of the total), of which 1,725 (93%) were returned home. The number of enforced returns for Albanian nationals has been decreasing since October 2016 and is now ranked second after Romania. Some of these returns may relate to specific enforcement activity related to specific groups of individuals from these countries.

Albania 1,620  
Poland             1,316
India                800
Pakistan          738     

EU nationals may be returned for not exercising, or abusing, Treaty rights or for deportation on public policy grounds (such as criminality).

There were 20% more enforced returns (5,301) of EU nationals in the year ending June 2017 compared with the previous 12 months (4,424), and 26% more EU nationals were refused entry at port and who subsequently departed (2,726 compared to 2,158). Nationals of Romania and Poland counted for 60% of EU enforced returns compared to 57% the same time a year ago.

Source: Home Office Statistical Release Q@/2017 - http://bit.ly/2w6UVf7

Charter Flights Q2 April/May/June 2017

 You asked for information regarding charter flights during April/May/June 2017. The answers to your questions fall to be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

1. Number of males removed - 329
2. Number of females removed - 20
3. Number of escorts - 788
4. Number of flights in total - 10
5. Number flights to each country / number removed to each country
6. No children were returned

7.Number flights to each country / number removed to each country
Albania                 4                                                      149
Germany              2                                                        43
Nigeria/Ghana     2                                                       84
Pakistan               2                                                        73

Hunger Strikes Q2 2017