Labour would give 50,000 in limbo asylum seekers chance to stay in UK

Labour would allow more than 50,000 asylum-seekers currently in limbo to make claims to stay in the UK if it wins the general election, it has emerged.

Under a law passed by the Tories last year, migrants who arrive in the UK illegally are blocked from submitting asylum claims, but Labour has indicated that would change if it wins office.

There was confusion on Wednesday as Labour officials and frontbenchers tried to clarify their position on Rwanda deportation flights as the Home Office began detentions.

The Labour Party has made clear that it would scrap Rishi Sunak’s plan of flying asylum-seekers who arrived in the UK illegally to Rwanda, calling the policy a “gimmick”.

However, how exactly it would wrap up the scheme and what would be done with those people who have already arrived via small boats crossing the English Channel remains unclear.

A Labour spokesman said the party would not schedule new Rwanda deportation flights when in office, but did not rule out allowing pre-arranged flights inherited from the Tories to still go ahead.

They also said Labour would “in principle” continue to pay the costs of housing any asylum-seekers already in Rwanda after being sent there under Mr Sunak’s premiership.

The Conservatives have heightened focus on their Rwanda flights plan ahead of the local elections, which take place across England and Wales on Thursday.

The party is likely to do the same before the general election, which is widely expected to take place in the autumn, with Tory strategists believing some voters can be won back on the issue of immigration.

The Illegal Migration Act, passed last year, has led to 52,000 foreigners being stuck in “limbo”, as they are unable to submit asylum claims after reaching the UK and are yet to be deported because the Rwanda scheme is not up and running.

A Labour spokesman, briefing political reporters after Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, indicated that those migrants would be allowed to submit claims to stay permanently in the UK if the party was in office.

The spokesman said: “The most important thing is that we speed up the way in which claims are being processed, the way in which we then have returns agreements in place and deal with the backlog that there is.

“The thing that is unsustainable at the moment is the amount of the backlog that there is within the system.”

Ellie Reeves, Labour’s deputy national campaign co-ordinator, argued the same during an appearance on BBC Radio Four’s World at One.

Ms Reeves said: “We would have a unit with 1,000 caseworkers to process all of these claims and clear the backlog.”

She also appeared to suggest that, under a Labour government, people detained for Rwanda flights this week would be released, although she struggled to give a clear answer after repeated questioning.

Later in the day, Labour figures circulated a briefing note attempting to clarify their position.

The party argues that it is the Tories who have created the problem, and that the 52,000 people stuck in a “perma-backlog” could potentially rise to 100,000 by the end of the year.

Labour says it is only by assessing claims that it can be determined whether some people could be returned to their home countries if safe, such as India or Pakistan.

Sir Keir Starmer also wants to strike returns agreements with countries instead of deporting asylum-seekers to Rwanda, but it is unclear which nations could agree on such deals or how it would work.

A Home Office source said: “Labour have contented themselves for so long that they could delay, disrupt or destroy the Rwanda scheme, that now they are getting scared we’ll make it work they are having to confront a difficult problem of their own making.

“Despite all evidence that the challenge of tackling illegal migration is not a Tory problem but a global challenge, they have no deterrent, no alternative, no destination to send people from countries not deemed safe, no idea where to look after people in the UK, no names of countries they would do returns deals with, if they could even secure them, and no real plan.”