Get the facts on asylum seekers and refugees

10 May 2023

You can’t apply for asylum in the UK through the UNHCR

The UN’s refugee agency has clarified that there is no way for people to apply for asylum in the UK through the agency, after comments made by the Home Secretary.

23 March 2023

Labour MP wrong to say ‘there are no safe routes’ to enter UK

Khalid Mahmood wrongly claimed in Parliament that routes for people from Hong Kong and Afghanistan have been closed.

14 March 2023

The asylum backlog is far higher now than when Labour left government

The home secretary told Parliament the current backlog bears “no comparison” to the situation in 2010, and that Labour would be “found wanting” in any comparison.

10 March 2023

No evidence to support Rishi Sunak’s asylum backlog claim

The Prime Minister said there were 6,000 fewer people in the “asylum backlog”—but the latest published figures show a large rise in the number of people waiting for applications to be resolved.

9 March 2023

‘Illegal immigrants’ are not entitled to more benefits than pensioners

False information comparing benefits and other financial support has been circulating for more than a decade.

9 March 2023

Who are the 100 million displaced people Suella Braverman said could qualify for UK protection?

We’ve looked into the figures after the Home Secretary claimed 100 million people could be eligible for protection under current UK laws.

7 February 2023

£7 million daily cost of hotel accommodation includes cost of housing Afghan refugees

Articles in the Daily Express and Daily Mail wrongly claimed that almost £7 million a day is being spent on hotels for people who either arrived in the UK illegally or are awaiting deportation.

1 February 2023

UKIP wrong that half of unaccompanied children seeking asylum are found to be adults

Figures mentioned by the UKIP deputy leader on GB News likely refer to the proportion of age dispute cases where the applicant is found to be an adult, not the proportion of all unaccompanied children

31 January 2023

Aspen card does not give asylum seekers £175 a week

Not every asylum seeker is eligible for support payments, and those that are receive much less than has been claimed on Facebook.

31 October 2022

Claims about 47,000 homeless veterans need context

The figure is the estimated number of homeless veterans in 2015 in the United States. We don’t know how many homeless veterans there are in the UK.

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Asylum seekers and refugees

You can’t apply for asylum in the UK through the UNHCR

Labour MP wrong to say ‘there are no safe routes’ to enter UK

The asylum backlog is far higher now than when Labour left government

No evidence to support Rishi Sunak’s asylum backlog claim

‘Illegal immigrants’ are not entitled to more benefits than pensioners

Who are the 100 million displaced people Suella Braverman said could qualify for UK protection?

£7 million daily cost of hotel accommodation includes cost of housing Afghan refugees

UKIP wrong that half of unaccompanied children seeking asylum are found to be adults

Aspen card does not give asylum seekers £175 a week

Claims about 47,000 homeless veterans need context

Full Fact fights bad information