The United Kingdom received 108,138 asylum applications in 2024, marking the highest number recorded in any 12-month period since tracking began in 2001. This figure, released by the government on Thursday, reflects an 18 percent increase from the 91,811 applications submitted in 2023.
The previous record was set in 2002 with 103,081 applications. The surge in asylum claims comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government faces mounting pressure to tighten migration controls. Starmer has pledged to implement stricter immigration rules, particularly targeting undocumented migrants arriving in the UK via the English Channel, making it nearly impossible for them to obtain citizenship.
His Labour administration is under scrutiny following the strong electoral performance of the far-right Reform UK party, which garnered around four million votes in the last general election.
Among those seeking asylum, Pakistani nationals accounted for the largest share, representing 9.7 percent of the total applications. Additionally, applications from Vietnamese nationals more than doubled, rising from 2,469 in 2023 to 5,259 in 2024.
Since assuming office in July, Starmer scrapped the controversial Rwanda deportation policy introduced by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a deterrent against illegal migration. Instead, he has focused on dismantling people-smuggling networks and curbing unauthorized entries.
Border Security and Asylum Minister Angela Eagle emphasized efforts to expedite asylum decisions and enforce the return of applicants whose claims are unsuccessful. By December 2024, a total of 124,802 asylum seekers were awaiting an initial decision on their applications.
Eagle also highlighted the government’s commitment to reducing overall legal migration, which had reached record levels in recent years. Net migration for 2023-2024 stood at 728,000, a decline from the previous year’s peak of 906,000.
“We are also ensuring that legal migration continues to come down after the previous government quadrupled net migration in the space of four years,” Eagle stated.
The government is also reversing some of the relaxed visa policies introduced by the previous administration.
In 2024, undocumented migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats accounted for 32 percent of asylum claims, with 36,816 individuals making the journey from France to England—an increase from the previous year.
