Labour pledges to fast-track Albania asylum claims

Labour has said it would "fast-track" asylum applications from countries considered safe, to help clear a mounting backlog of claims.

The party says it would cut the number of Albanians put up in hotels after crossing the Channel in small boats.

Less than 1% of Albanian applications in the past year have been decided.

The asylum backlog has ballooned in recent years, with the number of people awaiting an initial decision on their application standing at 143,377.

The government has not ruled out setting up a fast-track system for Albanians, similar to what is being proposed by Labour.

The asylum process allows people to apply to live in the UK to escape war, persecution and human rights abuses in their home countries.

Ministers are under pressure to speed up the claims process, because the backlog has led to a multimillion-pound daily bill to put them up in hotels whilst their claims are heard.

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Labour says it would fast-track applications from countries designated safe - a list including countries like India and Brazil as well as Albania.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said this would mean "clearly unfounded" cases could be decided quickly as a way of clearing the backlog.

She told the BBC that "more complex" cases would require further consideration.

"But we also know there are very straightforward cases that should be able to be decided very swiftly," she added.

The party has not provided detail of how the fast-tracking would work, but said it would be based on similar schemes in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden.

It points out that the UN's refugee agency has said an accelerated process for clearly unfounded claims can comply with international refugee law, as long as certain safeguards are met.

Currently, asylum claims from designated safe countries are normally considered unfounded - unless the person applying can show otherwise.

If that fails, they generally do not have the right to appeal. They can, however, try to argue the decision was unlawful on procedural grounds.

Labour introduced a fast-track scheme for safe countries when it was last in power in 2002, which involved detaining applicants at a former army barracks near Cambridge whilst their applications were processed.

That scheme was mired in legal challenges, however, and was eventually suspended in 2015.

Ms Cooper said the "existing system" would apply to asylum applicants waiting for a decision under Labour's latest proposals, suggesting the party is not looking to replicate detention in its new plan.

She said her party wanted to "properly resource" the asylum system, as part of a broader package of measures to grip the "chaotic" backlog in claims.

The Home Office says it has increased the number of asylum caseworkers, and is increasingly digitising the process to speed up case handling.