Nearly 13,000 asylum seekers have spent over ten years in the UK waiting for cases to be resolved, shocking figures show

ALMOST 13,000 asylum seekers have spent more than ten years in the UK waiting for their cases to be resolved.

The backlog may have cost taxpayers billions to house, feed and clothe them.

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Figures obtained by The Sun on Sunday show they are among 60,290 whose cases have been ongoing for more than three years.

Home Office figures in a Freedom of Information filing show that as of last June, 12,994 asylum seekers had been in the UK for more than ten years.

Another 2,825 had been here for nine to ten years and 3,199 for eight to nine years.

There were 4,030 whose cases had lasted for seven to eight years and 8,117 for six to seven years.

Migrants are treated at a number of centres, including Manston, Kent, and then placed in hotels or bed and breakfasts.

The government’s hotel bill is £5.6million a day – about £2billion a year.

Alp Mehmet, head of Migrationwatch UK, said: “If after ten years it’s still not possible to make a decision then the claim is clearly quite weak.

“Mistakes like this are the result of hesitation and indecisiveness. It’s an absolute shame.”

The asylum system is hampered by backlogs and failure to deal with the small canal boat crisis.

And the Rwandan government’s controversial plan to send asylum-seekers to Africa has been delayed by legal challenges.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised more staff, new rules and cooperation with French authorities.

Around 150,000 asylum seekers are waiting for a decision.

Those who apply are unable to work and so receive a weekly allowance and accommodation.

James Roberts of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “Taxpayers foot the bill for asylum arrears.”

An Interior Ministry spokesman said: “The government is taking immediate action to reduce the asylum backlog.”