Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of asylum applications were submitted by people who arrived in the UK (a) irregularly by (i) small boat and (ii) other means and (b) through a safe and legal route in 2022.

The Home Office publishes statistics on asylum claims from small boat arrivals in ‘4. Asylum claims from small boat arrivals’ of the ‘Irregular Migration to the UK statistics’ report.

Data on detected irregular arrivals by method of entry are published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset’ of the ‘Irregular Migration to the UK statistics’.

The Home Office does not publish how many irregular arrivals who do not arrive by small boats have claimed asylum. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, as well as quality and availability of data.

The latest data relate to the year ending December 2022. Data for the year ending March 2023 will be published on 25 May 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Please note, asylum applications are not a recognised 'safe and legal entry route' to the UK. The safe and legal entry routes are country-specific and global:

• Resettlement, including UNHCR schemes (UK Resettlement scheme, mandate scheme, and community sponsorship), as well as the Afghan Resettlement Programme
• Family reunion visas
• BN(O) Hong Kong visas
• Ukraine Family, Sponsorship and Extension Scheme visas