How many people cross the Channel in small boats and where do they come from?

The fig of radical claiming asylum successful the UK roseate sharply successful 2022.

More than 166,000 radical are waiting for a determination connected whether they tin remain.

The UN Refugee Agency defines an asylum seeker arsenic idiosyncratic who has applied for structure and extortion successful different country.

If their exertion is successful, they are allowed to remain. If their exertion is refused they tin beryllium removed, though it is imaginable to appeal.

The fig of applications - including dependents - reached astir 103,000 successful 2002, arsenic radical fled conflicts successful Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq.

Applications past fell sharply, dropping to a 20-year debased of 22,600 successful 2010.

In 2022, much than 89,000 radical - with the top fig from Albania - requested asylum.

Small vessel arrivals accounted for astir 45% of asylum applications made successful 2022. In total, 45,755 migrants crossed the Channel past year.

This is the highest fig since figures began to beryllium collected successful 2018.

The authorities calls a "safe country" and has announced measures to effort to trim these numbers.

The 2nd largest group, with conscionable nether 10,900 applications, came from Afghanistan, followed by Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Ukrainian refugees are not included successful the figures.

Some radical hold months oregon adjacent years for their claims to beryllium considered.

In 2021, the mean hold successful the UK was 15.5 months, according to the Oxford Migration Observatory deliberation tank.

In France it was 8.5 months, successful Germany 6.5 months and successful Austria conscionable implicit 3 months.

Only 4% of radical who arrived successful the UK successful tiny boats successful 2021 person had a determination astir their application.

People are mostly not allowed to enactment portion their assertion is being processed.

If they person been waiting for much than 12 months for an archetypal decision, they tin use for support to work. If granted, they tin lone bash jobs connected the UK shortage concern list.

In the UK, galore asylum seekers are housed successful hotels, owed to deficiency of different suitable accommodation, astatine an estimated outgo of £5.5m a day.

The Home Office has the powerfulness to region radical who person nary ineligible close to enactment successful the UK.

Returnees see rejected asylum seekers, radical who person entered the UK without authorisation, those who person stayed successful the state longer than their visa permits and overseas nationalist offenders (FNOs).

In the twelvemonth to September 2022, determination were astir 35,000 full returns. Of these:

The immense bulk of enforced returns were of overseas nationalist offenders and astir fractional (49%) were EU nationals.

Of the apical 5 nationalities forcibly returned, 4 European countries accounted for much than half:

Brazil (9%) was the lone non-European nationality successful the apical five.

There were 2,192 returns of radical who had antecedently claimed asylum successful the UK. Asylum-related returns accounted for 6% of returns of each types successful this period.