Home Office, ‘Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation 2020’, 2021

Home Office, ‘National Statistics: Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation 2020’, Updated 26 August 2021

Abstract

All statistics published in this section relate to the number of asylum claims made where sexual orientation formed part of the basis of the claim. The data cover claims with a lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) element, but do not cover other forms of sexual or gender identity.

These statistics are released as Experimental Statistics. Further information on ‘Experimental Statistics’ can be found in the Office for National Statistics Guide to Experimental Statistics. Additional information about the limitations of these statistics can be found in the ‘about the statistics’ section below.

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic. A range of restrictions were implemented in many parts of the world, and the first UK lockdown measures were announced on 23 March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the UK immigration system, both in terms of restricting migrant movements to and from the UK and the impact on operational capacity.

The year-on-year comparisons that follow will include impacts resulting from the restrictions put in place during this period of the pandemic.