Migrants due to be sent to Rwanda will be given chance to stay in Britain as Labour will fast-track 90k asylum claims

Tens of thousands of illegal migrants – who were due to be sent to Rwanda – could have their claims accepted under Labour.

Around 60,000 applications are predicted to be accepted out of 90,000 claims.

Some migrants who took their cases to the High Court, were told their request for asylum would be processed within a week “as a priority”.

A huge backlog of asylum seekers has built up after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made it impossible for migrants who arrived illegally to be granted refugee status.

As no flights to Rwanda have taken off, there is estimated to be around 90,000 claims.

It comes as Keir Starmer has scrapped the Rwanda scheme so is now processing the thousands of applications.

People arriving from “safe countries”, such as India and Albania, will be considered first as their claims are likely to be rejected – resulting in their deportation.

Yesterday, a woman drowned on a small boat, which is the sixth person to die while trying to cross the Channel this week.

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A No10 spokeswoman said the incident “underlines the callousness of the criminal gangs who are driving this”.

It follows an announcement by the Prime Minister, who pledged £84million for projects in Africa and the Middle East to stop illegal migration “at source”.

The funding is to help with education, employment opportunities and humanitarian support, in a bid to stop people leaving their homes.

Starmer delivered the proposal at Blenheim Palace, during the European Political Community (EPC) summit.

He said the efforts would be a “vital part of gripping the migration crisis” as problems in those countries “echo at home [and] the effects play out on our streets.”

He added: “In a dangerous world, we serve no one and solve nothing by turning inward.”

The Labour leader is under pressure to tackle growing Channel crossings.