Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the humanitarian and mental health impact of asylum delays for Hong Kongers fleeing political persecution; and what steps the Government will take to ensure their claims are processed swiftly.

The Home Office takes safeguarding issues extremely seriously. Protecting vulnerable people is a key cross-cutting departmental priority.

We recognise that that all asylum seekers are potentially vulnerable. During the asylum decision making process we aim to ensure that particularly vulnerable claimants are identified and that they are given help in accessing appropriate services.

A claimant or their legal representative can also request their case is prioritised by emailing or writing to the relevant decision-making unit responsible for their claim.

Individual claims may be prioritised on a case-by-case basis due to exceptional and compelling circumstances. Please see Case by case prioritisation on GOV.UK for further information about how individual asylum claims may be prioritised.

The Home Office continues to invest in a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives, including innovative tooling to speed up decision-making, reduce the time people spend in the asylum system.

The number of people awaiting an initial decision as of September 2025 is down 54% from the peak in June 2023, and we continue to make good progress. This shows that the steps we have already taken to streamline the asylum process and increase our efficiency are paying off and is an important achievement in building an asylum system that is efficient, sustainable and flexible.