Failed asylum seekers left in Britain for up to a YEAR as foreign governments stall deportations
GB NEWS
Egypt and Guinea are among the worst offenders for lengthy deportation delays
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Refused asylum seekers and foreign offenders are spending up to 12 months in Britain while their governments are arranging travel documents for their return.
Countries including Egypt, Guinea and Burkina Faso are among those with the longest delays, taking six months to a year to issue the necessary travel papers.
This is unlike Italy and Belgium, where the documents can be processed in under two weeks.
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Migrants are therefore left in Britain while they await return to their home countries, with the taxpayer helping to fund their housing and other benefits, according to The Sun.
Yesterday, the Government announced it will appoint a new independent body to deal with asylum appeals in a bid to clear the backlog and end the use of migrant hotels, which it aims to do by 2029.
There are currently 106,000 cases waiting to be heard by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, including at least 51,000 asylum appeals, according to the Home Office.
Wait times are increasing, with an average wait of 53 weeks.
The Home Office said that while it has provided funding to increase the number of sitting days in the Tribunal, it "cannot keep up with fluctuating and increasing demand" and therefore an "alternative approach" is needed.
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Protestors have gathered outside migrant hotels over the weekend
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "We inherited an asylum system in complete chaos with a soaring backlog of asylum cases and a broken appeals system with thousands of people in the system for years on end.
"That is why we are taking practical steps to fix the foundations and restore control and order to the system.
"We are determined to substantially reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to end asylum hotels.
"Already since the election we have reduced the backlog of people waiting for initial decisions by 24 per cent and increased failed asylum returns by 30 per cent.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government is 'determined' to clear the asylum claim backlog
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"But we cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays in appeals as a result of the system we have inherited which mean that failed asylum seekers stay in the system for years on end at huge cost to the taxpayer."
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the proposed changes are "nowhere near far enough".
"The underlying rights, which allows most illegal immigrants to stay here, are not changing," he wrote to X.
"Simply waving illegal immigrants through even faster to full housing and welfare rights will not fix the problem.
"And immigration judges will still apply ever expanding common-sense defying definitions of ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) rights to allow foreign criminals and illegal immigrants to stay here."
The Conservative politician added: "The Government is too weak to do what’s really needed - such as repeal the Human Rights Act for all immigration matters and deport all illegal immigrants immediately upon arrival, which Conservatives would do."
A number of protests have been held over recent days outside migrant hotels across the country.
Migrants will soon be removed from the Bell Hotel in Epping after a successful High Court bid
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A group of protesters, some draped in the St George’s Cross, gathered outside the Castle Bromwich Holiday Inn near Birmingham while in London, police stood guard at the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf.
In Castle Bromwich, protesters peered in through the doors of the hotel and one was seen scaling a ladder to hang a flag on a lamp post by the Holiday Inn sign.