Britain’s broken asylum system is ruining lives, costing taxpayers and shaming the country

Editorial: The ‘migrant crisis’ has been going on for more than two decades now, under governments of both parties, yet the basic task of processing asylum claims remains neglected and painfully slow

Too many of the places in which refugees are held are still substandard (AFP via Getty)

Not for the first time, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has found the British government failing in its humanitarian obligations to asylum seekers.

In the past, the UN authorities, more used to condemning despots and dictators, have complained about squalid conditions in detention centres such as the notorious Yarl’s Wood.

Too many of the places in which refugees are held are still substandard, despite the high cost of warehousing these people in unsuitable hotel accommodation. This time, however, the UN has also attacked the cause of such conditions: the appallingly slow rate at which the Home Office processes asylum claims.