Key plank of new UK asylum law dropped to cut backlog
The Guardian Rishi Sunak has quietly dropped a key plank of last years asylum law that introduced a two-tier refugee system and made lives tougher for tens of thousands of people who arrived in the UK via small boats.
In a move to cut the asylum backlog, the Home Office said in a written statement on Thursday that it would no longer differentiate between people who arrive by irregular means, such as those who come across the Channel, and other asylum seekers, as had been stipulated in last years Nationality and Borders Act.
It means the government will be able to speed up the processing of claims for about 55,000 people who have arrived in the UK since last June, according to refugee experts. Of those, nearly 15,000 from countries with high grant rates such as Afghanistan and Sudan can be processed using questionnaires instead of in-person interviews.
It also means that people who arrived by small boat will be given improved rights such as the ability to reunite with family members.
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the decision was an admittance that the government had failed to deliver.
