A record 111,000 asylum applications were made in the UK in the past year, with efforts underway to process cases faster and reduce reliance on hotel accommodations, amid ongoing political debates and legal challenges surrounding immigration policies.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's claims on small boat crossings, asylum backlog, and Albanian asylum seekers have been fact-checked. While small boat crossings have decreased in 2023, they could still rise again over the summer months. The government is on track to clear the asylum backlog for initial decisions on asylum applications made before 28 June 2022, but the deadline of the end of the year would be missed. The UK has returned 1,800 Albanian nationals to their home country since December 2022, but this figure includes foreign national offenders and people who have returned voluntarily.