Increasing number of asylum seekers being granted work permits due to backlogs
An increasing number of migrants who may be in the country illegally are getting the right to work in the UK, Sky News can reveal.
Asylum seekers living in migrant hotels are being granted work permits before a decision is reached on their asylum claims, due to the length of time they have been waiting.
The Home Office backlog in processing claims means almost 100,000 people had been waiting more than a year for an initial decision on their asylum claim at the end of June this year – an almost 80% increase from this time last year, according to the latest data.
Under UK immigration rules, anyone who has been waiting more than 12 months through no fault of their own can receive a work permit and apply for any job on the country’s shortage occupation list.
Hussein, 34, who lives in a hotel in Staffordshire, is now working full-time for a charity after his work permit was granted in October this year.
He is still waiting for a decision on his asylum status, having arrived in the UK on a small boat at the beginning of July 2022.
Hussein, 34, who lives in a hotel in Staffordshire
He told Sky News he fled Iraq because he was concerned that previous work he’d done for Western armies was putting him and his family in danger.
On his phone are pictures of his young daughter back home, who he wants to help financially once he’s earning a regular salary.
He said the £9-a-week given to asylum seekers by the government simply isn’t enough to live on.
“We are getting very, very little money as financial support,” he said.
Although he has his meals paid for by the taxpayer and served in his hotel, he insists it is not enough.
“In the end as a human being, as a person…life is not only sleeping and eating – you might need clothes, you might need shoes, you might need maybe if you have some habits like smoking or anything, so all of this needs money.”
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He is certain that the other men living with him are given hope by watching him find full-time employment.
“Everybody who is seeing me in the hotel, they are also excited because of my job.”
“They are seeing what I’m doing and they want to be the same way,” he added.
Dozens of other migrants at his hotel arrived on the same route as Hussein – on small boats across the Channel.
They, too, are now reaching the threshold for finding paid work.
‘I didn’t choose to come and stay in [a] hotel’
Khalid, 30, from Syria, has been waiting for a decision on his asylum claim for 14 months.
“Many guys here they feel like in prison,” he said.
His work permit has just arrived. He said he will do any job, and doesn’t want to remain living at the expense of the taxpayer.
In broken English he told us: “This is the wrong from the government, not from me. I didn’t choose to come and stay in [a] hotel.
“I start work, I will not stay in the hotel, I can buy, rent or do something, from my business, from my job.”
But not all asylum seekers who are eligible want to get to work before they know what their future holds.
Khater, 30, from Sudan, said that without the Home Office declaring his asylum claim valid he will not attempt to find work.
He said he also wants to study more: “I want to improve my language first and speak fluently, and then I’m going to get a job.”
In November 2022, 51,189 asylum seekers had been waiting more than a year for an initial decision on their claim according to figures released to the Refugee Council
Another asylum seeker from Sudan – Elamin, 30 – admited the reason he came to the UK is to earn money.
“I want to be independent more – to help my family [in Sudan].”
According to figures seen by Sky News, around 91,000 people were waiting more than a year for a decision on their asylum claims by the end of June 2023.
That figure makes up more than half (52%) of the entire backlog of asylum claims at the Home Office.
‘I can understand why the public would be outraged’
In November 2022, 51,189 asylum seekers had been waiting more than a year for an initial decision on their claim according to figures released to the Refugee Council following a Freedom of Information request, meaning the backlog is growing at an alarming rate for some immigration solicitors.
Monira Hussain, an immigration lawyer in Oldham, said that enquiries from asylum seekers requesting help with their applications for work permits are now a daily occurrence.
Immigration lawyer, Monira Hussain
She told Sky News she does not know why decisions have slowed: “I can understand why the public would be outraged.”
“Ultimately what I would like to see the immigration system doing is processing their applications quicker, then we wouldn’t have this situation”, she added.
Some believe the rules need to be changed now the backlog of claims is so large.
Karl Williams, Deputy Research Director at the Centre for Policy Studies, said knowing they can get the right to work simply by waiting long enough makes Britain more attractive to migrants.
“There was perhaps a case for it when there were far fewer people in the asylum system. But at the moment it’s clearly acting as a massive pull factor for people coming here.”
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He believes for the British public, the fact that asylum seekers are working legitimately “will just enhance that fundamental sense that this is unfair”.
“These people are coming here illegally, they’re jumping the queue ahead of people who are using proper systems, and they are taking advantage of the taxpayer and the kindness and generosity of the public.”
The Home Office told Sky News: “The pressure on the asylum system has continued to grow, which is why we have taken immediate action to speed up application processing times and cut costs for taxpayers.
“Between the end of November 2022 and August 2023, the backlog of legacy cases has fallen by over 35,000.”
The government insists asylum seekers do not need to make perilous journeys in order to seek employment in the UK – and admits that Britain’s wider immigration policy could be undermined if migrants bypassed work visa rules by lodging unfounded asylum claims here.
Despite more and more asylum seekers legitimately making a living, it is still unlikely their uncertain status would satisfy the requirements for moving out of their hotel accommodation.
Whether the public likes it or not, a growing number of asylum seekers are now legally part of Britain’s workforce – but with no guarantee they will be allowed to continue their life here.
Additional reporting by Nick Stylianou.
In a small hut next to Newlyn Harbour at the bottom of Cornwall, the next generation of fishermen are quite literally learning the ropes.
Around a dozen students are on the eighth day of a two-week intensive course to become commercial fishers.
From knot and ropework to chart plotting, navigation to sea survival, by the end of the course they’ll be qualified to take a berth on a vessel.
While many are following in the footsteps of their fathers, others are here to try an entirely different career.
Elliot Fairbairn
Elliot Fairbairn, 28, is originally from London and has been working as a groundworker.
“I’m not from a fishing family – I just like a challenge,” he says.
He’s put his current job on hold to see how fishing works out.
“It makes you feel good doing a hard job. I think that’s what’s getting lost these days, people want an easy job, easy money and they don’t understand what it takes to be successful. Sometimes you’ve got to put that in the work.”
Elliot already has a job lined up for next week on a ring-netter boat.
“I’m ecstatic – I’m very pumped!” he tells me.
Students take part in a two-week intensive course to become commercial fishers
Also on the course is 17-year-old Oscar Ashby. He’s doing his A-Levels at Truro College and training to be a healthcare worker at the main hospital in Cornwall.
“I’m part of the staff bank so can work whatever hours I want – which would fit quite well if I wanted to do a week’s fishing,” he says.
It’s his love of being outside that has drawn him to get qualified.
“It’s hands-on, it’s not a bad way to make money. It’s one of the last jobs that is like being a hunter-gatherer really – everything else is really industrialised, ” Oscar says.
The course was over-subscribed.
The charity that runs it – Seafood Cornwall Training – could only offer places to half those who applied.
‘A foot in the door’
“The range of knowledge they’re gathering is everything from how to tie a few knots all the way on how to register with HMRC to pay and manage their tax because they’d be self-employed fishermen,” manager Clare Leverton tells me.
“What we’re trying to do with this course is give them a foot in the door.
“By meeting our tutors, skippers on the quay, vessel managers, they start to understand who they’re going to have to talk to to get jobs.”
Getting fresh blood into the industry is vital.
Over the last 30 years, the number of fishermen in the UK has nearly halved – from around 20,000 to 10,000.
The average age of a fisherman in the UK is 55.
Aging workforce
Mike Cohen, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations
“I think we’re seeing the effects of having an aging workforce,” says Mike Cohen, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO).
“Fishing is a traditional occupation in most places around the country. A lot of family businesses, and as people are getting older, they’re starting to retire out of the industry.”
The decline comes at a time of frustration and anger in the industry too.
Many feel the prime minister’s post-Brexit deal with the EU back in May sold fishing out by guaranteeing another 12 years of access to EU boats to fish in UK waters, rather than allowing it to be negotiated annually.
“A large part of the effort the EU exerts in UK waters is within our territorial waters, so within 12 miles of the shore. And that’s the area that’s most pressured,” adds Mr Cohen.
“For new people getting into the industry it’s the area that they can reach in the sort of small boats that new starters tend to work in. They’re increasingly pressured in that space and by keeping all of those European boats having access to it for free, for nothing, that puts them under even more pressure.”
The government says it will always back “our great British fishing industry” and insists the EU deal protects Britain’s fishing access.
‘A brilliant career’
To further promote getting young people into commercial fishing, the Cornwall Fish Producers Organisation has helped set up the Young Fishermen Network.
Skipper Tom Lambourne, 29, helped set up the group.
“There’s not enough young people coming into it and getting involved in it,” he says.
“It’s actually a brilliant career. It’s a hard career – you do have to sacrifice a lot to get a lot out of fishing – your time is one of them. But the pros of that certainly outweigh it and it’s a really good job.”
Tom Lambourne, from the Young Fishermen Network
Tom says the network supports new fishers by holding social events and helping them find jobs: “There’s never been a collective for young fishermen.
“For a youngster getting into the fishing industry to be sort of part of that – knowing there’s other youngsters coming in in the same position – they can chat to one another, it’s pretty cool really.”
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In 2021, UK fishing contributed around 0.03% to GDP – with an economic output of £483m.
Economically, it is not a big player.
However, studies suggest that each fisherman creates 15 other jobs in the seafood trade on land.
It’s also a huge part of the fabric of the UK’s identity and landscape – and one that the next generation will have to fight to keep alive.
A man was ejected from Anfield after reports of racial abuse directed at Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo during the season’s opening Premier League game against Liverpool.
Match referee Anthony Taylor paused play in the 29th minute after Semenyo accused a spectator of racist abuse.
An anti-discrimination message was read out to the Anfield crowd, and it is understood that police officers went into the referee’s room at half-time.
Merseyside Police said an investigation is under way after the 47-year-old man’s identity was confirmed and he was removed from the ground.
Chief Inspector Kev Chatterton, the match commander for the Liverpool v Bournemouth game, said: “Merseyside Police will not tolerate hate crime of any form.
“We take incidents like this very seriously, and in cases like this we will be proactively seeking football banning orders, with the club, against those responsible.”
He added: “There is no place for racism and it is vital that anyone who witnesses such an offence reports it to stewards, or the police immediately, so we can take the necessary action like we did this evening.
“As with all matches, we work very closely with both Liverpool and Everton FC to ensure the safety of the public, and the players.”
A spokesperson for Liverpool said the club was “aware of an allegation of racist abuse made during our Premier League game against Bournemouth”.
Semenyo with his teammates during the match. Pic: PA
The Liverpool spokesperson said: “We condemn racism and discrimination in all forms, it has no place in society, or football.
“The club is unable to comment further as tonight’s alleged is incident is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, which we will support fully.”
After the incident, Semenyo scored twice in the second half to help bring Bournemouth back from two goals down at Anfield before Liverpool went on to eventually win the contest 4-2.
Bournemouth captain Adam Smith told Sky Sports News afterwards: “It shouldn’t be happening. I don’t know how Ant’s played on to be honest and come up with those goals. It’s totally unacceptable.
“Something needs to be done. Taking the knee isn’t having an effect. We’re supporting him and hopefully he’ll be OK.
“I wanted him to react because that’s what I would have done, but this shows what type of man he is…to come up with those goals showed the type of guy he is.
“To be fair the Liverpool players were very supportive as well towards Antoine and the rest of the team. It was handled in the right way but… so angry.
“I don’t know what else we can do. No one’s getting it. I don’t know what to say anymore. I just feel for Ant… shocking.”
The Premier League said in a statement that its “on-field anti-discrimination protocol” had been followed and the incident “will now be fully investigated”.
“We offer our full support to the player and both clubs,” it added. “Racism has no place in our game, or anywhere in society. We will continue to work with stakeholders and authorities to ensure our stadiums are an inclusive and welcoming environment for all.”
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The Football Association said it was “concerned” about the allegation of racism towards Semenyo and that it would ensure “appropriate action” would be taken.
The incident comes two days after Tottenham Hotspur player Mathys Tel faced racist abuse online following a missed penalty in his team’s UEFA Super Cup victory over Paris Saint-Germain.
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