At the least 270 migrants have died within the UK whereas awaiting a call on their asylum purposes since 2015, figures have revealed.
Three of them had been youngsters or youngsters.
The information is restricted to circumstances the place the House Workplace has acquired a notification that the particular person has died, which means the true determine could possibly be increased.
Charity Care4Calais stated: “These figures confirm what we have known for some time – too many people seeking asylum die waiting for the government to decide their future.
“It is time the brand new authorities not solely sped up the decision-making course of, however ensured it delivered high-quality selections that supply folks the safety they search.”
Migrant Assist, a UK-based charity supporting folks searching for asylum, stated: “Every loss of life during the asylum process is a devastating tragedy.
“Individuals who have typically escaped unimaginable trauma and undergone treacherous journeys to hunt sanctuary within the UK deserve the help and safety they want whereas ready for his or her utility to be processed.”
The information, extracted in October, runs as much as the top of June of this yr – the final reportable interval consistent with revealed immigration statistics on the time of the FOI.
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Watch again: Why immigration is not being decreased
Deaths within the English Channel
Whereas 67 folks died as much as 8 November this yr, 56 folks died throughout 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
These had been largely in 2021, with 34 deaths – whereas there have been 4 deaths in 2022 and 12 in 2023.
The vast majority of the deaths occurred on the French facet of the Channel, and as such the figures will not be UK authorities knowledge.
In response to knowledge from Migration Watch, a thinktank that screens migration flows to and from the UK, whereas 2024 will end with extra small boat crossings than 2023, 2021, and 2020, it would have round 10,000 fewer crossings than 2022.
Charity Refugee Motion claimed “hostile border policies” had compelled folks to take more and more harmful routes to succeed in the UK – just like the English Channel – and this “ultimately” led to extra folks shedding their lives.
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Small boat crossings and immigration stay one of many key political matters, as the federal government battles to manage surging numbers post-Brexit.
In an announcement earlier this month, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer outlined a collection of milestones to guage his authorities however did not embody one on immigration.
That is regardless of over 20,000 folks crossing the Channel in small boats since Labour received the election this summer season.
The federal government has beforehand stated it’s concentrating on smuggling gangs answerable for the crossings.
A House Workplace spokesperson stated: “Our thoughts and sympathies are with the families and friends of those who have died.
“This authorities has restarted processing asylum claims which had been caught in an inherited backlog.”
