London: Thousands of Albanians who have applied for asylum in the UK this year are likely to have left their holding facilities, according to official statistics.
The UK Home Office reported that from January to March, more than 6,000 asylum claims were withdrawn, nearly 4,400 of which were related to Albanians who had sailed across the English Channel in small boats.
The number of withdrawals from the Home Office during the same time period in 2022 was 1,229, of which 292 were asylum claims from Albania.
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According to a report in The Times, senior Home Office sources claimed that because asylum seekers had "disappeared from hotels or other asylum accommodations" or had "simply not turned up for interviews," the department had "lost track" of the claims relating to them.
UK nonprofits that assist asylum seekers have cautioned the government that not all applicants will have vanished and that some who withdrew their applications may have been exploited.
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When we let people fall through the cracks in this way, there are serious risks involved. Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, said, "We cannot allow people who have come to our country in search of safety to become victims of trafficking and exploitation or endure poverty.
The Home Office should make every effort to prevent people from being abandoned to their fate in order to address the issue of the government's self-inflicted asylum backlog.
Contrary to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's assertion three weeks ago that his government's plan to stop the boats is "starting to work," more migrants arrived in June than in the same month last year.
The Times was informed by a spokesperson for the Home Office that "the unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system."
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"Asylum-seekers may withdraw their claim for a variety of reasons, such as because they want to leave the UK or pursue another application for permission to stay," the spokesperson continued.
"Asylum claims may also be withdrawn when individuals flee before their application for asylum has been decided."