The backlog stands at 103,000. There is an average wait of 13 months - as a result of the complete breakdown on asylum casework in December 1998 when the bungled introduction of a new computer project reduced the number of decisions to just 800 a month. At that time the backlog stood at 64,000. The asylum process has only just managed to recover with 10,000 decisions being made last month. A special exercise is under way to clear the backlog of people who have been waiting since before 1996.
R is for refugee.
This is someone recognised to have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or holding a political opinion. This applies where they passed through another country deemed to be safe en route. T is for the trend in asylum applications. The record 71,000 asylum applications last year was triggered by the crisis in Kosovo but numbers also surged to record levels in 1993 when Bosnia exploded. U is for unaccompanied children.