The Ministry of Justice is extending the number of days tribunals can operate in a bid to process up to 9,000 more immigration and employment cases by the end of March.
The government hopes that by allowing judges in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber to hear more cases over the next three months, further progress can be made on the 25,000 cases currently in the system.
Tackling the backlog is seen as an “important part of the government’s effort to tackle illegal immigration”, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said on Thursday.
“Faster decisions will enable us to speed up the removal of those with no right to be here, strengthen deterrence against those seeking to abuse our system and focus our efforts on those in genuine need.”
The extended opening hours are being funded by £5 million from the government.
Cases from failed asylum seekers will be heard, including from those who have made Channel crossings and have been denied their initial asylum claim by the Home Office.
Cases will also be heard from those who say being forced to leave the UK would breach their human rights.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said “it means decisions can be made more quickly, helping us to tackle the backlog….and remove those who are not eligible.”
The increase in days that judges can operate also applies to Employment Tribunals, with a £2.85 million investment allowing up to 1,700 more cases to come before judges by the end of March 2023.
Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, said: “Any increased resource for tackling the huge backlog in asylum claims is to be welcomed, but with more than 140,000 people waiting for an initial decision - some of them more than three years - there is much more to be done.
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“The government needs to set up a dedicated task force to clear the backlog - a well-resourced unit that can make real inroads in reducing the numbers of women, men and children waiting and forced to live their lives in limbo.”
In November the Refugee Council revealed a large backlog of the number of people waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim. The Refugee Council revealed that there has been a fourfold increase in five years, with 122,206 people awaiting an initial decision.
A third of them, 40,913, have been waiting between one and three years, the Council said.
Meanwhile the Home Office continues to be criticised for its rhetoric surrounding illegal migrants.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman last month came under fire for claiming there was an “invasion” of England by migrants crossing the Channel.
She said the UK had seen a “surge in the number of Albanian arrivals” and agreed with a Tory backbencher who brought up “Albanian criminals”, in comments that drew criticism from Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
On Wednesday Albanian ambassador to the UK Qirjako Qirko told MPs that children from his country were being bullied in UK schools due to a “campaign of discrimination”.
Veteran Tory MP Sir Roger Gale told Sky News on Thursday that bullying of Albanian children is “highly undesirable and reprehensible”.
“And I’m afraid that some of the language that has been used by the Home Secretary and others is exacerbating what is already a clearly very fragile and dangerous situation.
“So do I condemn it? Yes, most certainly I do.”
Albanians accounted for just over a third of Channel crossings in the first nine months of the year, figures published by the Home Office last month showed.
The Government is reportedly reviewing plans to fast-track the removal of asylum seekers from designated “safe” countries, a list that would include Albania.
On Thursday Ms Braverman joined interior ministers from France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands at a meeting of the so-called “Calais group” of neighbouring countries, marking “renewed efforts to step up co-operation” to crack down on Channel crossings and bring people smugglers to justice, the Home Office said.
Ms Braverman said: “Countries across Europe must work closely together to tackle illegal migration and crack down on the people smugglers before these issues reach our borders”.
She said the group has held “constructive discussions today on bringing solutions that will benefit all our countries and to ensure the evil criminals who profit in human misery are targeted and brought swiftly to justice. I look forward to our ongoing cooperation.”