ALMOST 100,000 people, including Afghans, Syrians and Sudanese nationals, have been waiting more than six months for a decision on their asylum claims, official figures show. 

At the end of September this year, there were 143,377 people in the asylum backlog — an increase of 74 per cent over the last year, according to Home Office figures.

Of those, a staggering 97,717 have been waiting for more than six months, including more than 30,000 people from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Eritrea and Afghanistan, with some left in limbo for years. 

Rights groups said the figures, published on the same day as the first anniversary of the Channel disaster on November 24 2021, shows that Britain’s asylum system is in “complete disarray” and in need of urgent reform. 

“These statistics underline yet again the government’s neglect and mismanagement of the asylum system due to a failure to invest in creating an orderly, efficient and effective system,” Refugee Action CEO Enver Solomon said.
 
The data also shows that just 1,391 people have been resettled in the UK through official schemes so far this year. Only four of those were resettled through the government’s Afghan schemes.

The Home Office said the figure does not yet include data of individuals relocated through its two schemes for Afghan refugees — however, reports suggest resettlement through both routes has been slow. 

The number of people entering the country through family reunification routes has also fallen, with numbers dropping by a third since 2019. 

The government insists people should claim asylum in the UK through official resettlement routes, however campaigners argue the latest figures show there is a “growing lack of safe routes,” thus forcing people to make dangerous journeys. 

The data comes as the government faces renewed calls to open safe routes in the wake of the first anniversary of the capsizing of a dinghy in the Channel last year, which led to the deaths of over 30 people. 

Families of 16 of the victims have also called for politicians to open safe routes in a letter to PM Rishi Sunak on Thursday, in which they also demanded answers. 

It comes as the British investigation into the disaster confirmed on Thursday that the dinghy had drifted into British waters that night, despite initial claims from ministers that it had not. 

Commenting on the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB)’s interim report, Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley said: “It’s untenable that a year later all we have is a two-page report when 32 human beings lost their lives in this tragedy.

“The families deserve that the UK government acts and calls a full public inquiry. The families need answers and justice, and the authorities need to learn lessons before more people die.”

The agency has been criticised for the slow pace of the investigation, as well as failing to contact families of the victims.

MAIB has said that tracing the victims’ families was a “complex process.”