UK government to overhaul migrant appeals system to help reduce backlog

In the United Kingdom, the heated public debate on controlling unauthorised immigration continues.

There was another wave of anti-migrant protests on Sunday, following scuffles between demonstrators and police the day before.

On Saturday, protesters were met by thousands of anti-racism counter-demonstrators at several anti-migration rallies.

The protests come as the government plans to set up a new independent panel focused on appeals by rejected asylum seekers.

It currently takes on average just over a year for a case to be heard. During this time, failed asylum seekers are accommodated at the taxpayer's expense.

The government is hoping the new system will help reduce a backlog of over 51,000 cases and speed up the process of removing people with no right to be in the country.

In response to mounting public pressure, it also plans to phase out the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.

The dilemma of how to house them got more challenging for the government after a landmark court ruling this week ordering the removal of asylum seekers from a hotel in Epping, near London.

With immigration polling as the top public concern, the Labour government is under pressure to deliver on its pledge to end hotel use, which is costing the country billions of pounds a year.

The new panel would have the power to prioritise appeals, and a legal requirement would also be introduced for cases to be resolved within 24 weeks.

Last week, the Home Office released figures showing that a record 110,000 asylum applications were made in the year to June.