Rishi Sunak promises end to asylum seeker backlog by 2023
Rishi Sunak has promised more staff to help clear the UK's backlog of asylum seekers by the end of next year.
Under a plan unveiled by the prime minister, a dedicated unit of 400 specialists will be set up to handle claims from Albanians.
UK border officials will also be posted at Albania's main airport, under a new deal with the country.
There will also be 700 staff for a new unit to monitor small boats crossing the English Channel.
Mr Sunak also announced plans to house 10,000 asylum seekers waiting on claims in disused holiday parks, former student halls, and surplus military sites.
The asylum backlog has ballooned in recent years, with 143,377 awaiting an initial decision on their application and unable to work. Of these, nearly 100,000 have been waiting more than six months.
Pressure has been building on the Home Office, as increasing numbers of claimants, housed in private and hotel accommodation, wait for a decision by officials.
This has seen Mr Sunak label the small boats crisis a priority for his premiership.
More than 40,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year - the highest number since figures began to be collected in 2018.
There has been a rapid increase in the number of Albanians crossing the Channel and this nationality now make up 35% of arrivals.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Sunak said it was "unfair" that people were claiming asylum after entering the UK illegally.
He added that people were "right to be angry" with the current backlog, adding that global legal frameworks for asylum had become "obsolete".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63959729