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Living In Limbo: The Government Took More Than 20 Years To Rule On Some Asylum Claims, Data Reveals

By Rahul Verma, News Editor 20 Aug 2018

The Home Office took more than 20 years to rule on an asylum application, a freedom of information request has revealed.

The Guardian recently reported it had obtained data that showed in 2017, 17 people had received an initial decision on asylum applications submitted 15 years ago.

In one of these cases, the application was submitted 26 years ago, with a further three applications taking more 20 years for an initial ruling.

Dire Poverty and ‘Utterly Barbaric’

many asylum seekers struggle to afford food

Asylum seekers are expected to survive on £37.75 per week. Image Credit: Flickr

What's the Difference Between Refugees and Asylum Seekers?

Asylum seeker: A person who has left their country of origin and formally applied for asylum in another country but whose application has not yet been concluded

Refugee: A refugee is a person who ‘owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country…’

Refugee status: Refugee status is awarded to someone the Home Office recognises as a refugee as described in the Refugee Convention. A person given refugee status is normally granted leave to remain in the UK for 5 years, and at the end of that period can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Many asylum seekers face destitution as they’re not permitted to work and must live on £37.75 per person a week, which equates to £5.39 per day for food, travel, clothing, toiletries and a mobile phone.

This leaves many individuals and families seeking asylum in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland living in dire poverty while they wait for the Home Office to rule on their applications.

What’s more, when this period is stretched out over months or even years, charities say it begins to take its toll.

The charity Asylum Matters adds that this can have a big negative impact on the self-esteem and mental health of asylum seekers.

Stephen Hale, chief executive of Refugee Action, told the Guardian: “Forcing some people to wait more than 15 years for a decision on their asylum claim while banned from work and living below the poverty line is utterly barbaric.”

Our Right to Freedom from Inhuman or Degrading Treatment

this is to illustrate fact that many asylum seekers are living in poverty over extended periods as the Home Office is often taking many months and years to rule on asylum applications.

Image Credit: Wikimedia

This situation touches on Article 3 of the Human Rights Convention, which outlines our freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

No one shall be subjected to to torture, or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

Article 3 states: “No one shall be subjected to to torture, or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

This also means that we can’t be treated in ways that violate our dignity and cause severe physical and mental suffering.”

In theory this also means, governments must ensure torture and ill-treatment never take place – and carry out effective investigations if they do.

Overhauling The System

This is to illustrate the fact that many asylum seekers are waiting months if not years for decisions from the Home Office. And live in poverty while awaiting the decision.

There are calls for the Home Office to overhaul its asylum application process. Image Credit: Pixabay

The Home Office aims to make a decision on asylum claims in six months and in more complex cases within a further six months.

However it is not uncommon for decisions to take between one and three years – the Guardian’s freedom of information request revealed in 2017, decisions in 18 189 cases (75%) were taken within six months, with 3059 taking between one and three years, and 243 between three and five years.

It’s also important to note these are initial decisions and do not factor in lengthy appeal cases.

People’s lives are put on hold, forcing them to live in limbo and uncertainty. This is totally unacceptable.

Christopher Wren, Refugee Council

However, the delays have led to calls for an overhaul of the asylum ruling system.

Christopher Wren of Refugee Council told the Guardian, “This is not a temporary admin problem, but the predictable outcome of a system that all too often gives little or no thought to the human consequences of its actions.

“People’s lives are put on hold, forcing them to live in limbo and uncertainty. This is totally unacceptable. These figures underline the pressing need for a major overhaul of the way we treat people seeking refugee protection in the UK.”