Asylum in disarray

The Law Society has called for the detained fast track system for dealing with asylum claims to be closed. Mark Stobbs, director of legal policy at the Society, says: “With over a third of people in the system wrongly allocated, it’s clear that this conveyor-belt scheme should be dismantled immediately.” Last week, the Home Affairs Committee reported that there was a backlog of 32,600 asylum cases, with some applicants waiting 16 years for a decision, and almost a third of decisions being reversed on appeal.