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UK migration: Brexit and Covid produce big drop in numbers Asylum claims to UK reach highest level in nearly 20 years
(about 1 hour later)
Net migration - the difference between people entering and leaving the UK - fell by 88% last year due to Covid restrictions, official figures suggest. Asylum applications to the UK have reached their highest level since 2004, according to official estimates.
There were 37,562 asylum applications in the year to September - an 18% increase on the previous year.
The applicants were mainly refugees from Iran, Eritrea, Albania, Iraq and Syria.
The figures come after 27 people drowned crossing the channel, sparking renewed calls for changes to the way those seeking refuge are treated.
The Office for National Statistics figures also reveal a big backlog of asylum claims waiting to be heard, with 67,547 cases yet to have an initial decision.
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Dr Peter William Walsh, of Oxford University's Migration Observatory, said: "The situation in the channel yesterday (Wednesday) is an unspeakable tragedy.
"The increase in claims for asylum is driven by arrivals from Eritrea, Iran and Syria, all of which have very high acceptance rates for asylum in the UK.
"The backlog in the number of asylum seekers is increasing both as a result of this increase and the slow processing of asylum claims."
Asylum applications in the UK were "substantially lower" than in France, which received 31,000 applicants in the third quarter of 2021, according to the Migration Observatory.
This rise in asylum claims comes as official figures suggest net migration - which does not include asylum claims or refugees - fell by 88% last year due to Covid restrictions.
Brexit was also a factor, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), but it stressed there was "no evidence of an exodus" from the UK.Brexit was also a factor, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), but it stressed there was "no evidence of an exodus" from the UK.
The estimates show net migration in 2020 was 34,000, compared with 271,000 the previous year. The estimates show net migration - the difference between people entering and leaving the UK - in 2020 was 34,000, compared with 271,000 the previous year.
This was the lowest level of net migration for many years, the ONS said.
But it was "difficult to disentangle" the impact of the end of free movement from the EU from the effects of the pandemic, the statisticians said.
In March 2020, the public were told to stop all non-essential travel in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and air travel to and from the UK dropped by 95% in the early months of the pandemic.In March 2020, the public were told to stop all non-essential travel in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and air travel to and from the UK dropped by 95% in the early months of the pandemic.
The quarterly report found estimated that 268,000 people came to the UK during 2020, compared with 592,000 people in 2019. Net migration in 2020 from the EU was negative, with 94,000 more EU nationals thought to have left the UK than to have arrived, the ONS statistics suggest.
At the same time, an estimated 234,000 left the country to live abroad - a fall on the 2019 number of 300,000. But 5.5 million EU nationals were granted permission to remain in the UK through the post-Brexit settlement scheme, according to Home Office figures. with more than 300,000 cases still being processed.
Net migration in 2020 from the EU was negative, with 94,000 more EU nationals thought to have left the UK than to have arrived. So far, 180,000 EU nationals have been refused permission to remain in the UK.
The ONS warned that its figures were based on "experimental research" and "subject to a high level of uncertainty". The ONS warned that its net migration figures were based on "experimental research" and "subject to a high level of uncertainty".
The organisation was forced to suspend the International Passenger Survey, the traditional method of measuring migration through surveys at ports and airports. due to the pandemic.The organisation was forced to suspend the International Passenger Survey, the traditional method of measuring migration through surveys at ports and airports. due to the pandemic.