Advocating
Make your voice heard and call for fairer, more compassionate asylum policy.
Learn MoreThere’s a lot of misinformation about refuge and asylum in the UK – but we’re here to give you the reality behind the rhetoric. Read on to learn about the global context, what this country is doing to help displaced people, and what life is really like for people stuck in the UK’s asylum system.
A displaced person is someone who has been forced to escape their home due to war, violence, conflict, or persecution. Increasingly people are also being forced to move because of climate change and natural disasters.
A displaced person might still live within the boundaries of their country of origin – as an internally displaced person (IDP) – or they may have fled their country in search of safety elsewhere, as a refugee.
The 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as a person who has had to flee their home country because of a ‘well-founded fear of being persecuted’ due to their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.
A person can receive refugee status in the UK if the Government agrees that their asylum claim meets this definition.
Internally displaced people have been forced to flee their homes, but they haven’t crossed an international border. Many people with this status are fleeing persecution, armed conflict, human rights violations, and increasingly, climate change.
More than half of all displaced people worldwide are internally displaced.
Sadly, the global number of forcibly displaced people is higher than ever before.
Around the world a total of 123.2 million people are displaced – that’s one in every 67 people. This number has almost doubled across the past decade.
- 73.5 million people are internally displaced, in their home country
- 42.7 million people are refugees
- 8.4 million people are seeking asylum.
Of the world’s displaced population, 40% – 48.8 million people – are children.
Worldwide, 69% of refugees and people needing international protection come from just five countries: Venezuela (6.2 million people), Syria (6.0 million people), Afghanistan (5.8 million people), Ukraine (5.1 million), and South Sudan (2.3 million people).
The vast majority of the world’s refugees and people needing international protection (73%) live in low- and middle-income countries. Most – two thirds – live in a country neighbouring their country of origin.
One in eight people in Lebanon are refugees or people needing international protection – the highest number in the world relative to its population size.
37% of the world’s refugees or people needing international protection are hosted by five countries: Iran (3.5 million people), Türkiye (2.9 million people), Colombia (2.8 million people), Germany (2.7 million people), and Uganda (1.8 million people).
The UK hosts just over 500,000 refugees – less than 1% of the overall population. In 2024, people seeking asylum and refugees only made up around 13% of the total number of migrants moving to the UK that year.
108,138 people sought asylum in the UK in 2024 – fewer than in France, Germany, Italy, or Spain. Per capita, the UK ranked 17th in Europe.
The top five countries of origin of people seeking asylum were Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Bangladesh and Syria.
Under international law, it is legal to enter a country irregularly for the purpose of seeking asylum.
Yet small boat crossings – and the responses of politicians to these – have dominated the headlines in recent months. That’s despite those crossing the Channel in this way making up just 39% of people claiming asylum in the UK, and a fraction of all migrants moving here. In fact, in the year ending June 2025, just 4.7% of the total number of people migrating to this country arrived by small boat.
The attention given to small boats often masks a serious issue: there are no meaningful safe routes to seek asylum in the UK for the vast majority of people needing sanctuary. Since 2018, 95% of people arriving by small boat have then claimed asylum.
And the latest figures show that 57% of people crossing came from just five countries, all marked by war or persecution: Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Syria, and Sudan. Introducing new safe routes would play a critical role in stopping such dangerous journeys.
The UK’s asylum system and policy present serious challenges to people seeking sanctuary. People often face long waits for a decision on their claim – and dehumanising systems and processes.
The latest statistics (from the year ending June 2025) show that there were 71,000 cases (relating to 91,000 people) still waiting to hear a decision on their initial asylum decision. The backlog has fallen – down 47% from the peak in the year ending June 2023, when there were 134,000 cases – but far too many people are still facing long waits where they are stuck in limbo.
Most people are banned from working while they are seeking asylum. During this time, they are given just £9.95 a week in Home Office support to live on (if they are living in catered accommodation). People in uncatered accommodation are only given £49.18 a week. These extremely low levels of support force many into destitution.
Conditions in asylum hotels are often poor and the accommodation provided is generally very unsuitable – placing further barriers restricting people’s abilities to integrate and rebuild.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the challenges facing displaced people. But there’s lots of ways to take action, help empower people to rebuild their lives in the UK, and fight for a better, more compassionate asylum system.
- Sign up as a befriender with our transformative JUMP programme
- Call for change and join our advocacy network
- Learn about other ways to volunteer with HIAS+JCORE
