In last full year for which the statistics are available (2008), 3,505 principal applicants from Afghanistan applied for asylum. 2008 figures are provisional.
Information on asylum applications is published annually and quarterly in the Control of Immigration statistical bulletins. Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
The following tables show the number of Afghan nationals given permission to stay in each of the last five years (2004 to 2008), according to their immigration status (i.e. asylum-related grants, grants of an extension of leave to remain and grants of settlement).
Further statistics on immigration control are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html.
Grants of asylum Grants of humanitarian protection Grants of discretionary leave Total 2004 35 10 410 450 2005 30 20 445 500 2006 40 * 760 805 2007 85 10 790 885 20084 100 10 875 990 1 Figures rounded to the nearest 5 (— = 0, * = 1 or 2) and may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding. 2 Excludes dependants. 3 Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions. 4 Provisional.
Number of grants 2004 165 2005 125 2006 155 2007 355 20083 425 1 Figures rounded to the nearest 5 (— = 0, * = 1 or 2). 2 Excludes dependants of principal applicants, asylum related decisions and withdrawn applications. 3 Provisional. Note: Includes reconsideration cases and the outcome of appeals.
Number of persons 2004 1,405 2005 9,215 2006 7,395 2007 3,165 20085 2,915 1 Figures rounded to the nearest 5 (— = 0, * = 1 or 2). 2 Includes dependants, reconsideration cases and the outcome of appeals. 3 Also includes asylum-related cases and therefore may include persons counted in Table 1. 4 Data from 2003 exclude dependants of EEA and Swiss nationals in confirmed relationships granted permanent residence. 5 Provisional.