Keir Starmer‘s scrapping of the Rwanda scheme means more than 60,000 migrants could be granted asylum in the UK as the Labour Government tries to clear a backlog of claims.

The Refugee Council estimates the number of asylum applications waiting to be determined could stand at 118,063 in January after Labour ditched the last government’s plans to send migrants to the east African country and started to process claims again.

Analysis of official data based on grant rates in the year to June, shows as many as 62,801 more people could be recognised as refugees in Britain, according to the migrant charity.

Migrants had been blocked from asylum in the UK under laws brought in by former prime minister Rishi Sunak. These meant anyone arriving illegally on UK shores should be detained and deported to a “safe” country.

Labour has lifted the ban on migrants’ asylum claims and ended the duty on the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to send them to another country.

Former Tory migration minister Tom Pursglove said the Government should revive the Rwanda deal, telling the Telegraph: “They should get on the phone, talk to the Rwandans, apologise profusely for the way they were treated following the General Election and try to deliver this partnership because it is a way of shifting the dial, making it much more difficult for these criminal gangs.”

The call comes as Downing Street insisted the Government was “committed” to ending the use of asylum hotels amid claims the Home Office is considering reopening some previously closed by the Conservatives.

Labour vowed in its General Election manifesto to stop housing migrants in taxpayer-funded hotels but was on Wednesday accused of seeking to use more.

The Home Office is understood to be reviewing the hotels being used to house asylum seekers. The department would not confirm if it is seeking to use more or reopen any of those previously closed.

A Home Office spokesman said: “This Government took quick action to restore order to the asylum system that we inherited by restarting asylum processing to clear the backlog.

“This is happening as we continue to remove more people with no right to be here – with over 3,000 people returned since we formed government – while also driving down the costs of asylum accommodation to save money for the taxpayer.”

The Refugee Council based its findings on the grant rates used in the 12 months leading up to the General Election on July 4 and looked at how that was applied to asylum seekers of different nationalities to reach their conclusions and a “working assumption” of what the figure could be.

It also noted how the estimations were similar to the number of people granted refugee status in the year to June under the previous government. Researchers warned the way in which decisions are reached could change and affect the number of claims approved.

The charity also suggested there may be a smaller proportion of Channel crossings accounting for asylum claims as migrants may be seeking other ways to enter the UK, potentially in the back of lorries, because the journey has become even harder and more dangerous.

Enver Solomon, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, said: “It’s no secret where you ramp up enforcement activity in relation to one route – not just enforcement activity close to the UK, closer to the UK Border, but all the way further back through Europe – you’re going to see a shift in how people seek to get to the UK.

“Displacement is an inevitable consequence of particular enforcement activity which is the consequence of people smugglers seeking to adopt other tactics and try different routes.”