More than 33,000 migrants risk deportation to Rwanda if flights take off, figures from the Ministry of the Interior showed on Tuesday.
Some 33,085 asylum claims have been made since Rishi Sunak's 'stop the boats' legislation became law in July, giving ministers the power to detain illegal migrants and deport them to a safe third country such as Rwanda.
It means that they are liable under the legislation to have their applications declared "inadmissible" and to be deported to Rwanda, where they will have to apply for asylum.
The prime minister is trying to secure the first deportation flights this spring if he can get his Rwanda bill through the House of Commons after the Supreme Court declared the policy unlawful.
He faces threats of rebellion from both wings of his party over the controversial legislation, which aims to further restrict migrants' rights to legally challenge their deportation and address Supreme Court concerns.
The Rwanda plan is seen as a crucial deterrent to 'hold the boats back'. But even if the flights take off, ministers have acknowledged that the number of deportees will initially be small.
In evidence to the High Court, Sir James Eadie, the government's lawyer, told the judges it would initially be "limited". Britain has so far committed at least £290 million to the five-year Rwanda treaty.
"Both participants recognize the need for capacity building - Britain has provided funding for this, the Rwandan authorities have taken recruitment and training measures, and the numbers are initially low," said Sir James.
Rwanda has established its first shelter at the Hope Hostel in Kigali with capacity for 200 migrants, although the country is building houses and flats for asylum seekers and has previously said it can take as many as Britain sends there.
The Refugee Council has estimated that Rwanda has the capacity to accept no more than 10,000 migrants per year once the program becomes fully operational, which it said would leave at least 25,000 people per year in limbo.
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The figures were revealed in data published by the Home Office following Mr Sunak's claim that he has delivered on his promise to clear the backlog of more than 90,000 "outdated" asylum cases dating from before June 2022.
This claim is disputed by Labor and refugee charities, who have pointed to 4,500 unresolved "complex" cases within the 91,000. These have yet to be decided as the government says there are outstanding security issues, disputes over the age of the asylum seeker or unresolved criminal issues.
The data also showed that there is still an outstanding backlog of 98,000 further asylum applications yet to be decided.
These are in addition to the 91,000 processed and a further 20,000 submitted after June 2022 that have been approved - for a total of 112,000.
On Tuesday, James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, admitted it was "impossible" to say how long it would take to finalize these outstanding asylum cases. "The point is it's impossible to say and I'm not going to make any predictions," he told the Today programme.
However, he said applications were processed ten times faster after doubling the number of asylum workers and streamlining bureaucracy. "Last year we processed 112,000 cases, the largest in over two decades, so again, you know you can see the math," he said.
The figures also showed that of the 112,000 'approved' applications, 35,119 were cases that were null and void, suspended or withdrawn, with asylum seekers failing to respond to interview calls or letters within the specified timeframe and thus having their claims rejected. .
This has led to claims that the asylum seekers have gone 'missing' or disappeared into the 'black economy'. The number of "withdrawn" cases has more than doubled in three years, from nine percent of claims to a quarter.
Last month, top Home Office officials admitted to MPs on the Home Affairs Committee that they did not know the whereabouts of 17,316 asylum applications whose cases had been withdrawn over the past year. They later corrected their admission, saying there was data on them that would allow enforcement action.
On Tuesday, Mr Cleverly told the BBC that withdrawn applicants who tried to hide on the black market would be tracked down. we find these people.
"We will look for places where we know that people are working illegally, so often in the clothing trade, sometimes in the catering industry, in the construction sector, we know where these people go and usually work, often with cash, often without papers, we go and find them and we will remove them."
The data also shows that the number of illegal migrants removed from Britain has halved in the past seven years, from 40,000 in 2016 to 24,000 last year. This is despite a two-thirds increase in voluntary and forced returns over the past year.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said it was incorrect to claim the 'legacy' backlog had been cleared when there were 4,500 cases 'not done', and 17,000 'withdrawn', while the Home Office had 'no had any idea where those people are'. , and the rest of the backlog had doubled to 99,000.
"The number of rejected asylum seekers has fallen by 50 percent compared to the last Labor government. Only five percent of Albanians who came to Britain on small boats have returned. £400m for the failed Rwanda plan and no one sent," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"Gimmics instead of grip. Failure to stop criminal gangs that undermine border security, to clear backlogs, to end hotel use, to implement return actions or to properly manage the asylum system. With such a track record of failure, Rishi Sunak should stop the... braggadocio."
