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The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached its highest level in two decades according to the Home Office, reports the Daily Mail.
A total of 78,768 applications relating to 97,390 people were registered in the year ending June 2023, 19% more than the previous year.
Albanians hold the top spot in asylum applications in Britain, with 11,790 applications - 7,557 of which came from boat arrivals crossing the Channel.
Afghans were the second largest nationality, with 9,964 applications, almost double the number in the previous 12 months (5,154).
More than 19,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, with 345 people crossing on Wednesday.
Today's immigration statistics revealed that the number of asylum cases has reached a new record.
A total of 175,457 people were awaiting an initial decision on an asylum claim in the UK at the end of June 2023, up 44% from 122,213 at the end of June 2022, the highest figure since current records began in 2010.
The number of asylum seekers waiting more than six months for an initial decision was 139,961 at the end of June, up 57% year-on-year from 89,231 and another record.
The increase was 'due to more cases entering the asylum system than initial decisions being made', the Home Office said.
However, the number of cases awaiting a decision rose by less than 1% in the three months to the end of June, suggesting growth is slowing.
There were 23,702 initial decisions on asylum applications in the UK in the year to June 2023, up 61% from 14,730 in the year to June 2022.
Also over 20,766 decisions taken in the calendar year before the 2019 pandemic.
Stephen Kinnock, Labour's shadow immigration minister, said: " These new statistics put in stark terms the utter chaos the Tories have created in the immigration and asylum system. The asylum backlog has reached a new record, with 175,000 people now waiting for decisions.
Only one per cent of last year's 45,000 small boat cases have received a decision and the number of failed asylum seekers returned is also a huge 70 per cent drop since 2010. This is a disastrous record for the Prime Minister and Home Secretary". With this level of mismanagement, there is little prospect of reducing the exorbitant hotel room bill for all those left behind, currently costing the British taxpayer £6 million a day. "
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