Thousands of Afghans are stuck in the UK’s asylum system with no way to move on or go back, as approvals for Afghan asylum have plunged in 2025 while returns to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan remain impossible. As of 31 August 2025, legal aid groups, refugee charities, and immigration lawyers describe a fast-growing population in limbo: people without status, work rights, or clear routes to regularize their stay, often living in hotels or temporary sites for months on end. The Home Office’s own figures and expert analysis show the trend has hardened this year despite the ongoing protection risks for Afghans.
The core problem: refusals, no returns, and closed routes
In the first six months of 2025, only 37% of Afghan asylum claims were approved, a steep fall from near 99% at the end of 2023. In the year to June 2025, 6,066 Afghan asylum seekers were refused, including 367 women and girls, even as human rights monitors report widespread abuses in Afghanistan under the Taliban.
At the same time, the government does not recognize the Taliban authorities, so enforced returns are not taking place. This combination — sharp refusals, no returns, and closed or capped resettlement routes — has left many Afghans in a prolonged waiting state with no right to work and little control over their daily lives.
Accommodation and arrivals: the scale of limbo
Accommodation data illustrates the stalemate and the pressure on services:
- Arrivals by small boat (H1 2025): 8,281 Afghans.
- Accommodation (June 2025):
- 3,664 in asylum hotels
- 6,103 in dispersal accommodation
- 4,900 in transitional accommodation (much of it hotel-based)
- Total Afghan arrivals (to June 2025): 38,700 across ARAP, ACRS, and other routes.
Analysis by VisaVerge.com links tighter decision-making and political pledges to deter Channel crossings with the practical barrier that Afghans cannot be sent back, producing a mounting backlog of people with negative decisions and nowhere to go.
Resettlement routes and settlement progress
The government’s resettlement options have narrowed:
- Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP): still technically open but tightly limited to those who worked directly with the UK government in Afghanistan.
- Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS): capped and closed to new referrals.
By June 2025:
– Total Indefinite Leave to Remain granted: 12,954
– ARAP: 6,480
– ACRS Pathway 1: 6,474
– Moved into permanent homes: 27,291
– Thousands remain stuck in temporary or transitional sites without a path to secure status.
Official operational data and methodology are available at: Home Office Afghan Resettlement Programme operational data.
Data snapshot and official positions
Recent Home Office figures and independent assessments show a stark shift for Afghan claimants in 2025. The Migration Observatory at Oxford notes the grant rate for Afghan claims has “more than halved” over the past year. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) continues to warn of severe risks for Afghans, especially women and girls, and opposes forced returns given current conditions.
Key 2025 figures and policy points:
– Approval rate collapse: 37% in H1 2025 (down from near 99% at end of 2023).
– Refusals (year to June 2025): 6,066, including 367 women and girls.
– Arrivals by small boat (H1 2025): 8,281.
– Accommodation (June 2025): 3,664 asylum hotels; 6,103 dispersal; 4,900 transitional.
– Total Afghan arrivals (to June 2025): 38,700.
– Indefinite Leave to Remain granted: 12,954 (ARAP 6,480; ACRS Pathway 1 6,474).
– Moved into permanent housing: 27,291.
– Asylum support (2025): £49.18 per person per week, or £10 per week when meals are provided in accommodation.
The Home Office states Afghan women are generally recognized as at risk and usually granted asylum. Yet many Afghan men and some families now face refusals despite the lack of a return route. Appeals are available, but lawyers report slower timelines and lower success rates for Afghan appellants this year.
The human impact — daily life in limbo
What this means in daily life is sobering. Families who fled after the 2021 Taliban takeover, or who reached the UK by small boat in 2024 and 2025, now spend months in hotel rooms or short-term sites without the right to work and with limited cash support.
- Parents describe the stress of not being able to provide for their children.
- Teenagers lose school time and face repeated moves between towns and schools.
- Single men report isolation and worsening mental health after months without clear next steps.
- Charities warn of rising destitution when people lose support after final refusal.
Lawyers say the collapse in Afghan grant rates marks a major shift from earlier practice. In 2022–23, most Afghan claims were accepted; in 2025 the near-consensus has broken down, with narrower interpretations of risk. UNHCR and rights groups maintain Afghanistan is unsafe for many prospective returnees, particularly women and girls.
Political debate and controversial proposals
The political debate has intensified:
- Labour leader Keir Starmer has promised to detain and return small boat migrants, but returns to Afghanistan are not feasible under current UK policy.
- Nigel Farage (Reform UK) suggested paying the Taliban to accept deported Afghans — a proposal widely criticized as unworkable and unethical by legal and human rights experts.
- The Home Office says it is reforming the asylum system to speed up decisions and increase removals overall, but for Afghan cases the limits are apparent: people are refused but cannot be removed.
Legal experts warn that proposals to pay the Taliban to accept deportations would be both unethical and impossible to monitor.
Legal process and appeals
For those pursuing asylum in 2025, the process typically includes:
- Initial claim and screening
- Substantive interview and document checks
- Decision (grant or refusal)
- If refused, the option to appeal
However, appellants report:
– Longer waits for appeal dates
– Lower success rates in 2025
– A crush on legal aid solicitors and fewer resources for quality representation
Immigration lawyers advise Afghan applicants and refused claimants to seek accredited legal help, especially for appeals, since outcomes can depend on specific personal histories and up-to-date country reports.
Policy options considered by analysts
Policy analysts point to approaches used elsewhere when removal is impossible:
- Time-limited permits or temporary protection schemes
- Renewable leave tied to community or family ties
- Conditional work permission if removal isn’t possible within a set period
As of 31 August 2025, the UK announced no major policy change aimed at ending the Afghan limbo. The government’s focus remains on enforcement for those who can be removed and on reducing hotel use — measures that do not resolve the Afghan-specific problem.
Community and public service impacts
The strain is felt across communities and local services:
- Volunteer-led English classes pause when people are moved long distances.
- Employers cannot hire refused claimants even when skills are needed.
- Local councils must reassess needs when families are moved, disrupting school placements and health care.
- Charities’ emergency funds and legal support resources are stretched thin.
Mental health professionals warn prolonged uncertainty is linked to depression, sleep problems, and loss of hope, particularly among people who have already experienced conflict and long journeys.
International context and UNHCR position
Large-scale returns to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan in 2025 have further destabilized the country, increasing risks for returnees. UNHCR continues to urge states not to carry out forced returns to Afghanistan and to provide fair asylum procedures.
Further reading and official sources:
– Home Office Afghan resettlement operational data: Home Office Afghan Resettlement Programme operational data
– ACRS policy statement and pathway details: Afghanistan resettlement and immigration policy statement (ACRS)
– UNHCR country updates and situation reports: UNHCR Afghanistan Situation Updates
Where things stand and what may come next
The past four years frame today’s stalemate. After the Taliban takeover in 2021, ARAP and ACRS were launched and approvals rose in 2022–23. In 2025, that pattern reversed: grant rates fell, resettlement pathways narrowed, and returns remained impossible. The result is limbo for thousands — refused, not removable, and often stuck in temporary housing with minimal support.
Officials say they are working to clear backlogs and reduce hotel use. Human rights groups warn that without a practical path for those who cannot be removed, the system will continue producing the same outcomes. Lawyers call it a Catch-22; in plain terms, it is a standstill that Afghans in the UK feel every day as they wait for a door to open.
Key takeaway: grant rates for Afghan asylum have fallen, returns are not happening, resettlement routes have narrowed — and thousands remain in limbo with real costs for people, communities, and public services.
This Article in a Nutshell
By 31 August 2025 thousands of Afghans in the UK face prolonged limbo after a sharp fall in asylum grant rates and narrowed resettlement routes. In H1 2025 approval rates dropped to 37%, and 6,066 Afghan claims were refused in the year to June, including 367 women and girls. Returns to Afghanistan remain unfeasible because the UK does not recognize the Taliban, leaving refused claimants with no right to work and limited support. Accommodation data to June 2025 show thousands housed in hotels, dispersal, and transitional sites. While 12,954 indefinite leaves to remain were granted and 27,291 people moved into permanent homes, many remain stuck. Legal delays, stretched charities, and political pressure complicate prospects; analysts suggest temporary permits or conditional work rights but no Afghan-specific policy change had been announced by late August 2025.
