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EXPERIMENTAL STATISTICS: Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation

Published 29 November 2018

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1. About the statistics

These data are experimental statistics and should be interpreted with caution. Experimental statistics are statistics that are not yet fully developed nor been subject to the full level of quality assurance of National Statistics. Further details can be found in the Office for National Statistics Guide to Experimental Statistics.

All statistics published in this release relate to the number of asylum claims made where sexual orientation formed part of the basis of the claim.

These statistics reflect the claims made by asylum applicants and do not reflect a confirmed sexual orientation basis for a claim.

Some individuals applying for asylum may have less reason to mention sexual orientation when making a claim because it may not be a significant factor in their seeking asylum. Such nationalities would be undercounted in these statistics.

For a claim to be counted as having a sexual orientation element, an identifier is completed by caseworkers. A review of the data previously suggested that this identifier may have been wrongly applied in some cases. This has subsequently been addressed and the Home Office is confident that, for the period described by this report, the majority of asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation have been identified as such. However, there may still be some cases that are incorrectly identified.

The data cover claims with a lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) element, but do not cover other forms of sexual identity.

The data show the number of asylum claims where sexual orientation was raised as part of the basis for the claim for the period in which the claim was lodged, and the number and outcomes of initial decisions made on asylum cases where sexual orientation was part of the basis for the claim during the period in which the decision was made.

The data also show the number of appeals raised in relation to cases with a sexual orientation basis for the period in which the appeals were received, and the outcomes of such appeals based on the date of decision.

Data on asylum applications, decisions and appeals may therefore relate to different periods, and thus are not directly comparable.

The sexual orientation element could be raised at any stage of the process (for example, as part of the asylum case, appeal, or as part of other casework), and may form either the sole basis, or one of multiple grounds for the claim. Like other data derived from administrative data, these numbers may be updated in subsequent statistics releases.

The statistics therefore show:

• the number of asylum claims where sexual orientation was raised as a basis, or part of the basis, of the claim
• the initial decision of claims where sexual orientation was raised as part of the claim
• the number of appeals received for asylum cases where sexual orientation was raised as part of the claim
• the outcome of appeals for asylum cases where sexual orientation was raised as part of the claim

The data do not show:

• whether sexual orientation was the sole basis for the asylum claim
• whether sexual orientation was raised as the basis of the asylum claim at the time the claim was made, or whether it was raised at a later stage (such as at appeal)
• whether the sexual orientation element of the claim has any bearing on the outcome of the claim; for example, a claim may be based on multiple factors, the outcome of the claim may or may not be due to the sexual orientation component
• the number of asylum claimants who define themselves as LGB; having an identifier that an asylum case is based on sexual orientation does not indicate that a claimant has any particular sexual orientation; it also does not signify whether that aspect of the claim has been accepted; sexual orientation as a basis of claim could be due to imputed assertions or association rather than a defining characteristic of the claimant
• whether the sexual orientation element of the claim had any bearing on the appeal being lodged, or the outcome of the appeal
• any individuals at risk of persecution due, in part or in full, to a sexual orientation component who have been granted protection through other routes, such as resettlement routes

2. Key facts

More information on the data can be found in the data tables, EXPERIMENTAL STATISTICS – asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation. Data refer to asylum claims where sexual orientation formed the basis, or part of the basis, of an asylum claim.

In the three calendar years from 2015 to 2017, 6.6% of all asylum applications lodged in the UK had a sexual orientation component. This proportion increased over the period, from 5.4% of applications in 2015 to 7.3% in 2017.

Across these three years, the UK issued 1,540 grants of asylum and alternative forms of protection to asylum applicants whose application had a sexual orientation component.

The grant rate for asylum claims with a sexual orientation component decreased over the three year period, from 39% in 2015 to 22% in 2017, following the same downward trend as the grant rate for all asylum applications.

3. Asylum applications

Data in this section refer to applications from main applicants made in the calendar years 2015 to 2017.

During the three years 2015, 2016 and 2017, a total of 5,916 asylum applications where a sexual orientation basis was recorded were lodged in the UK, representing 6.6% of all asylum applications received in this period.

The data show an increasing proportion of asylum applications recording a sexual orientation basis over this period, from 5.4% of all applications in 2015 to 7.2% in 2016, and then remaining at this level (7.3%) in 2017. There are a number of factors which could influence this trend, including variance in how accurately caseworkers assign the sexual orientation identifier, which is likely to have improved over this period. Therefore, the apparent increase in proportion may be an artefact of administrative changes.

In each of the past three years, Pakistani nationals have accounted for the largest number of asylum claims where sexual orientation formed part of the basis for the claim, accounting for 28% of all cases across this period.

The number of applications from Ugandan nationals has fallen in each of the past two years, from 201 in 2015 to 63 in 2017 (down 69%).

Conversely, the number of applications from Bangladeshi nationals doubled from 149 in 2015 to 299 in 2016, then remained at a similar level in 2017.

Figure 1: Asylum applications received from the top 5 nationalities, 2015 to 2017

Source:

Table SOC_01, EXPERIMENTAL STATISTICS: Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation and Table as_01 asylum tables, volume 1.

Chart notes:

1. Main applicants only.
2. Data are totals for the calendar years 2015 to 2017.
3. Nationalities presented are those with the highest numbers of asylum applications based on sexual orientation over the three year period.

The majority of nationalities with higher numbers of asylum claims (see Table 1) have relatively few claims with a sexual orientation element. There are notable exceptions, e.g. Pakistan (7,835 total asylum claims from 2015 to 2017, recorded 21% which were on the basis of sexual orientation), Nigeria (3118, 18%) and Bangladesh (4,766, 16%).

Table 1: Sexual orientation-based asylum claims as a percentage of all asylum claims, by nationality, 2015 to 2017

Country of nationality	Asylum claims based on sexual orientation	Total asylum claims	% of claims based on sexual orientation
Uganda	394	567	69%
Cameroon	216	509	42%
Malaysia	93	239	39%
Trinidad and Tobago	30	93	32%
Tanzania	35	110	32%

Source:

Table SOC_01, EXPERIMENTAL STATISTICS: Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation and Table as_01 asylum tables, volume 1.

Table notes:

1. Main applicants only.
2. Data are totals for the calendar years 2015 to 2017.
3. Nationalities presented are those with the highest % of claims based on sexual orientation, of all nationalities. This includes only those nationalities for which data on applications are reported for each of the three years.

4. Initial Decisions

Data in this section refer to initial decisions made in the calendar years 2015 to 2017 on asylum applications from main applicants. Decisions may relate to an application made in a prior year, and therefore are not directly comparable with applications for the same period.

Over the three calendar years 2015 to 2017, the UK issued 1,540 grants of asylum or an alternative form of protection to main applicants whose claim included a reference to sexual orientation.

The proportion of initial decisions which resulted in a grant of protection has decreased over this period, from 39% in 2015 to 22% in 2017. This echoes the trend in the grant rate for all applications over the same period, although the fall was more substantial (total grant rate decreased from 40% in 2015 to 32% in 2017).

Grant rates for applications with a recorded sexual orientation basis varied substantially by nationality, and in some cases differed considerably from the total grant rate for a given nationality.

The majority of nationalities for which there were 50 or more initial decisions made on asylum claims with a sexual orientation element over the three year period had a higher grant rate for LGB-related asylum claims compared to the grant rate for all asylum claims (see Figure 2).

This was not the case when looking at asylum applications for all nationalities—when comparing the overall grant rates, the grant rate for LGB-related asylum claims (29%) was below that for all asylum claims (36%).

However, overall the success rate for claims recording a sexual orientation element does not differ greatly from the overall grant rate for asylum applications, with nationality of the applicant typically proving a more influential factor than any sexual orientation element to their application.

Figure 2: Grant rates at initial decision, by nationality, 2015 to 2017

Source:

Table SOC_02, EXPERIMENTAL STATISTICS: Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation and Table as_01 asylum tables, volume 1.

Chart notes:

1. Main applicants only.
2. Data are totals for the calendar years 2015 to 2017.
3. Individual nationalities are those with at least 50 initial decisions made on asylum claims with a sexual orientation basis over the period. This includes only those nationalities for which data on initial outcomes are reported for each of the three years.

Pakistani nationals received the largest number of grants of asylum or another form of protection on the basis of sexual orientation over the three year period, accounting for 26% of all such grants issued. The highest grant rate was seen for Ugandan nationals (59%; 255 grants).

5. Appeals

Data in this section on appeals received refer to appeals from main applicants which were lodged in the calendar years 2015 to 2017. Data on determinations of appeals refer to appeal decisions which were made in the calendar years 2015 to 2017, and may relate to an appeal lodged in a prior year. Therefore data on appeals determined are not directly comparable with appeals received over the same period.

Over the three calendar years 2015 to 2017, 3,266 appeals relating to asylum applications with a sexual orientation basis were lodged in the UK, representing 8.7% of all appeals lodged in this period.

The number of appeals lodged relating to applications with a sexual orientation basis increased over the period, from 857 in 2015 to 1,306 in 2017. This increase is likely to reflect improvements from caseworkers in the use of the sexual orientation identifier from 2015. As some cases can take a long time to reach the appeals stage, some of the appeals in 2015 may relate to claims made in earlier years when the flag was not widely used.

Pakistani nationals lodged the largest number of appeals of any one nationality group, accounting for 32% of all sexual orientation based appeals received from 2015 to 2017.

Similarly to the trend observed for grant rates at initial decision, the majority of nationalities with more than 50 appeals determined over the years 2015 to 2017 had a higher appeal success rate for LGB-related claims compared to the success rate for all claims (see Figure 3). However, the overall appeal success rate (for all nationalities) was slightly lower for LGB-related claims (34%) compared to that for all claims (37%).

Figure 3: Success rates at appeal, by nationality, 2015 to 2017

Source:

Table SOC_04, EXPERIMENTAL STATISTICS: Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation and Table as_14 asylum tables, volume 4.

Chart notes:

1. Main applicants only.
2. Data are totals for the calendar years 2015 to 2017.
3. Individual nationalities are those with at least 50 appeal determinations made on asylum claims with a sexual orientation basis over the period. This includes only those nationalities for which data on appeal outcomes are reported for each of the three years.

The greatest number of successful appeals related to claims from Pakistani nationals (362; 39% success rate). The highest success rate at appeal was seen for Iranian nationals (54 successful appeals; 48%).

6. Data tables

Data referred to here can be found in the following tables:

Asylum tables volume 1
Asylum tables volume 2
Asylum tables volume 3
Asylum tables volume 4
Asylum tables volume 5
Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation tables