Stately

What we can't tell you · Partial

What happens to the asylum claims of people who arrived by small boat?

Partial Official data answers part of the question: some categories, some years, some geographies or one stage of a process.

Why

The Home Office illegal-entry-routes datasets in the quarterly Immigration system statistics link small boat arrivals to asylum claims (IER_D02), to initial decisions by outcome (IER_D03) and to National Referral Mechanism referrals and outcomes (IER_D04, IER_D05); the returns chapter gives returns of small boat arrivals (Ret_06b: 2,750 in the year ending March 2026). The user guide states that initial decisions may later be overturned on appeal and that returns are matched only to the earliest return after arrival. Appeals and final outcomes are not linked to arrival.

What is known

What is not known

  • Appeals lodged and allowed for small boat arrivals
  • Final outcome after appeal, and grants after further review
  • Link from arrival to support and accommodation

Who holds the data

  • Home Office
  • HM Courts and Tribunals Service (appeals)

Would a Freedom of Information request help?

Possibly. The Home Office matches arrivals to case records, so an appeals linkage is a held dataset in principle; a request may be refused on cost or intended future publication.

Privacy and disclosure restrictions

Detailed datasets publish small cells unrounded; nationality-by-outcome cells can be very small.

Official sources checked

Last reviewed 2026-09-02. Availability changes; if a publication now answers this question, challenge the classification below.

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