Britain recorded Europe’s biggest rise in asylum claims last year, with figures hitting a record high.
More than 108,000 people applied for asylum in the UK in 2024, a 28 per cent increase on the 84,000 recorded the year before.
The increase significantly outstripped the UK’s continental peers, including Germany and France, where the number of claims actually fell.
Last year’s total – recorded by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – is the highest since records began in 1979, eclipsing 103,000 in 2002.
The figures have renewed concerns about Labour’s failure to crack down on illegal migration, including small boat arrivals across the Channel.
Sir Keir Starmer axed the Tories’ Rwanda scheme as one of his first acts in office, while his new ‘one-in, one-out’ deal with the French has run into repeated problems.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Illegal immigration is rising because Labour have torn up every deterrent the last Conservative Government put in place.
‘Labour have lost control of the border and don’t have the backbone to take the necessary action Britain needs.’
The OECD found 44,000 people tried to enter Britain illegally last year – mostly across the Channel in small boats – a rise from 37,000 the year before.
Migrants crossing from northern France by dinghy last month
More than 10,000 asylum seekers came from Pakistan, with Afghanistan and Iran accounting for over 8,000 each.
The figures deal another blow to Sir Keir, who has seen more than 60,000 small boat crossings since entering Number 10 in July 2024.
The Prime Minister’s returns deal with President Macron was trumpeted as his flagship measure to tackle the Channel crisis.
However, when it was first unveiled in the summer senior officials were unable to give an explanation of what would prevent deported migrants heading straight back to the Channel, saying only that they would be subject to the French immigration system.
It recently emerged that one Iranian small boat migrant who came back to Britain after being deported under the deal is still awaiting removal for the second time.
The unnamed man was detected by Border Force when he re-entered the country on October 18 – just under two weeks ago.
But Home Office sources confirmed he is still in the UK, despite earlier pledges to remove him again ‘as quickly as possible’.
It is unclear whether the man has brought legal challenges which are preventing the Home Office from acting more quickly.
If his deportation has been blocked by a ‘modern slavery’ claim or a fresh application for asylum it would be a further devastating blow for Labour’s already discredited deal with the French.
The Home Office said 75 migrants who crossed by small boat have now been returned to France so far under the scheme, which came into operation on August 6.
The OECD’s figures reflect a dramatic rise in asylum seekers heading to western countries, with more than three million asylum claims made across its 38 member nations last year – the highest number on record.
America saw the biggest increase, with 1.7 million asylum claims lodged in 2024, up from 1.2 million in 2023 and 730,000 in 2022.
Germany had the next largest number of asylum applications at nearly 230,000, although this was down by almost 100,000 in 2023 after it tightened controls.
While France also recorded a decrease in applications last year, it still received more than the UK, as did Spain and Italy.
The Home Office pointed to asylum-related returns rising by 28 per cent and asylum costs dropping by 15 per cent.
A spokesman said: ‘The Government is furious about the number of illegal migrants in this country
‘We are determined to fix every aspect of the broken system we inherited. That is why we are speeding up with removing the incentives that draw illegal migrants to Britain – and making it easier to deport illegal migrants.’