Afghans made up nearly quarter of migrant English Channel crossings so far this year

Government's migration bill could leave Afghans abandoned, think tank warns

An RNLI lifeboat pick up migrants in an inflatable boat who were travelling across the English Channel, bound for England. AFP

Afghans fleeing their home country could be abandoned under the government’s migration bill, a think tank has warned.

Figures suggest nearly a quarter of migrants who crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first three months of this year were Afghans.

Out of the 3,793 people who arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel between January and March, 909 were Afghans (24 per cent), making this the most common nationality.

This was followed by Indians (657, 18 per cent). Only 29 Albanians made the crossing during this period, according to provisional Home Office data.

Of the 45,755 arrivals throughout last year, 43,794 had their nationality recorded and of this total, 28 per cent were Albanian citizens and 20 per cent Afghan.

Officials said there was a “seasonal effect” on crossings due to the weather, with more generally taking place in better conditions.

The figures prompted warnings from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), which said the migration bill could leave Afghans “abandoned by the Home Office”.

While charity the Refugee Council said the figures once again show that “most of the people coming to the UK on small boats are refugees”.

Marley Morris, IPPR’s associate director for migration, trade and communities, said the statistics “expose the muddled thinking at the heart of the government’s new migration bill”.

“Afghans left stranded after the disastrously executed withdrawal in 2021 will almost always have a well-founded protection claim, but under the government’s migration bill any arriving by small boat on or after March 7 will be refused asylum and the Home Secretary will have a duty to remove them," he added.

“And without countries to send people to, thousands will be trapped in limbo in the UK — unable to be removed and unable to claim asylum.

The data also shows the total asylum backlog had fallen slightly since February but still stood at slightly more than 138,000 at the end of last month.

Mr Morris said the figures suggest that while some progress is being made in reducing the list of older asylum claims awaiting an initial decision, new ones continue to enter the system so the total outstanding figure is “roughly stable”.

“The migration bill will simply create a new backlog of people trapped outside the asylum system and with no right to work or access mainstream benefits,” he added.