THE number of refugees accepted by Britain after arriving through official schemes has fallen to the lowest level in over a decade, raising doubts over government pledges to create safe routes. 

According to the latest immigration figures, published today, only 353 people fleeing war and conflict were resettled in this country in the year to March 2020.

This is the lowest number of refugees offered protection under government resettlement schemes in 11 years, according to refugee charities, and a huge drop from the previous 12-month period, when 4,968 people were resettled.  

Resettlement schemes were suspended in March 2020 as the pandemic took off, but Refugee Action and the Refugee Council argue that ministers were “painfully” slow to restart the programme.

Even after resettlement was resumed in November, months after other European countries, only eight people were granted the right to stay in Britain between then and the end of last year. 

Resettlement programmes are government-run schemes that work with the United Nations and the International Organisation for Migration to identify refugees overseas, such as in countries neighbouring war zones, and relocate them to Britain with refugee status already granted.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has pledged to expand safe routes for people as part of plans to overhaul the asylum system that she outlined in the Queen’s Speech. 

But Refugee Action said that despite this, for the first time in years, there are currently no commitments to welcome a single refugee under resettlement programmes.

“Resettlement does not run on hot air,” Refugee Action chief executive Tim Naor Hilton said. 

“It is doomed unless the government can commit to an ambitious target that shows the world it is prepared to do its fair share to help refugees.”

The groups are calling on ministers to give a long-term commitment to resettle 10,000 people a year, while also creating other safe routes such as work visa schemes. 

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said: “As the fifth-richest country in the world and one with a successful track record on refugee resettlement, we must do right by those in need of our protection and commit to provide safety to thousands of people through this life-changing programme.”

The Home Office said that resettlement activities were paused between March and November last year due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.