How to fix our scandalous asylum backlog

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A substantial majority will qualify for asylum or humanitarian protection in this country, a fact the government stubbornly refuses to recognise (PA)

I sat as a judge of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal for eight years, resigning well before retirement age in despair at an increasingly dysfunctional system. Of the 161,000 people now waiting for an initial decision, the likelihood is that a substantial majority will qualify for asylum or humanitarian protection in this country, a fact the government stubbornly refuses to recognise.

What should be done, then, about initial assessment, given that current delays are so scandalous? One idea would be to have a crash programme supplementing the current assessment process.

Recent law graduates could be recruited, say on a year's contract, to supplement existing Home Office assessors. With their pre-existing legal knowledge, graduates would need a relatively short period of training in specific Refugee Convention and Humanitarian Protection issues. Groups could be seconded to study particular theatres (like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria or Eritrea), further honing their expertise. At the end of their contractual period, graduates would have gained invaluable experience, advantageous to career paths.