Shabana Mahmood to set up new independent appeals body to slash asylum backlog

Shabana Mahmood to set up new independent appeals body to slash asylum backlog EXCLUSIVE: Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will set up a new Independent Immigration Appeals Authority (IIAA), which will prioritise cases such as high-risk foreign offenders and human rights claims believed to be without merit Decisions on asylum appeals will be accelerated with a new independent body designed to slash the backlog of people waiting for their cases to be heard. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will set up a new Independent Immigration Appeals Authority (IIAA), which will prioritise cases such as high-risk foreign offenders and human rights claims believed to be without merit. This will include last-ditch modern slavery claims. The new system, which will be in place by late 2027, aims to speed up the process by creating a single appeal route. Currently, asylum seekers can appeal a rejected claim and then bring further claims about fresh matters before their removal. The average time taken to clear cases currently stands at 61 weeks, with more than 150,000 immigration and asylum appeals waiting to be heard. Officials said the scale of the caseload cannot be sustainably managed within the current system. Ms Mahmood said: “Today, our appeals tribunal is overwhelmed. As a result, people are gaming the system, lodging vexatious appeals to frustrate their removal. “Our new appeals body will ensure claims are heard swiftly and fairly. Those with a legitimate claim will get their hearing. Those who have no right to remain in this country, and are abusing the system, will be swiftly removed.” The move will form part of the controversial new Immigration and Asylum Bill, which is expected to come to Parliament this week. The legislation will remove obstacles to deportations, as Ms Mahmood claims existing laws are open to abuse and are undermining confidence in the system. The reforms, which is expected face opposition from some Labour MPs, will include restrictions on how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) can be used to prevent deportations by narrowing rules around families. It is also due to include more stringent age checks to identify when adults are posing as unaccompanied children, who are entitled to local authority support. Over the weekend, the Home Secretary pledged to open new safe and legal routes for refugees as she seeks to win support from Labour MPs for the reforms. These include a Canada-style sponsorship scheme allowing communities and "trusted universities" to vouch for refugees, and an employer-led work scheme. It comes after a scathing report from MPs earlier this month painted a picture of an asylum system in crisis. The Public Accounts Committee expressed alarm as the Home Office admitted some asylum seekers had vanished without trace when their applications were rejected. It also warned that local authorities had no meaningful say about where people are housed. Despite Keir Starmer's pledge to shut asylum hotels before the end of this Parliament, the report said the Government had no clear plan for getting people claiming asylum out of hotels. Last week, the Home Office announced plans to ramp up use of ex-military barracks to house asylum seekers. This will include MOD Bicester in Oxfordshire, RAF Barnham in Suffolk and RAF Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire. Ministers also plan to extend the use of existing asylum sites in Crowborough until 2030 and Wethersfield beyond 2027. Human rights groups have sounded the alarm over the use of ex-military sites. Kamena Dorling, Director of Policy at Helen Bamber Foundation, previously said: "We have repeatedly shown through clinical evidence that housing people in ex-military sites like RAF Wethersfield causes profound and long-lasting harm to their mental and physical health."