MIGRANTS will continue to be housed in hotels for up to three years due to delays in clearing the UK's asylum backlog.
Approximately 30,000 migrants are living in more than 250 hotels, costing the government £4.2 million per day, reported The Times.
Labour's election manifesto had pledged to end the use of asylum hotels, but no specific timeframe was set. Initially, it was expected that hotels would close within a year.
Since taking office, home secretary Yvette Cooper has privately acknowledged that it will take longer to clear the overall asylum backlog. Cooper is optimistic that the Home Office will process 87,217 claims awaiting initial decisions within 12 to 18 months.
However, an additional 137,525 claims are awaiting the outcome of appeals or removal decisions, which are outside the Home Office’s control, the newspaper reported. This adds to the total backlog of 224,742 cases, delaying Labour’s promise to end the use of hotels.
Small boat arrivals in the UK continue to contribute to the issue, with over 25,000 migrants arriving this year, including more than 10,000 since Labour took office on 5 July.
Keir Starmer had vowed during the election campaign to end the practice of housing migrants in hotels. He noted that the backlog in processing claims meant that individuals could not be returned, even if they had no right to remain in the UK.
A Whitehall source revealed to The Times that the scale of the backlog is worse than anticipated and could take longer than a year to clear. Labour also criticised the previous government for its handling of immigration, citing £700 million spent on the Rwanda deportation scheme.
As of June, there were 29,585 migrants in hotels, down from a peak of 56,042 last September. Dr Peter Walsh from the Migration Observatory said the government is struggling to secure private rental accommodation for migrants. Labour also plans to phase out large migrant accommodation sites such as the Bibby Stockholm barge and former military sites.
The backlog worsened after a drop in productivity at the Home Office following the general election, with only 2,990 decisions made in June compared to 14,148 in April. However, sources suggest productivity has since improved, with around 11,000 claims processed in the last month.
