The home secretary has rejected claims the government was wrong to say the backlog of older asylum claims has been cleared, despite new figures showing thousands of cases remain unresolved.
PM Rishi Sunak pledged to "abolish" the asylum backlog by the end of 2023.
New figures show the total asylum backlog stands at 99,000.
James Cleverly said "every single" legacy application made before asylum laws were changed in 2022 had been processed.
The Home Office were still looking at 4,500 "complex" cases - some involving security concerns, Mr Cleverley admitted.
The government says the cut in the total number of asylum claims is due to resolving the "legacy" backlog of applications, those made before 28 June 2022.
But critics have accused the government of manipulating the figures.
Mr Cleverly told the OceanNewsUK the cut in the asylum backlog is due to a "tenfold increase in the pace at which we complete the processing".
The government enhanced the asylum system by adding "more people", refining "processes", and implementing "real accountability", Mr Cleverly said.
Pressed on cases not being fully resolved, Mr Cleverly added: "The commitment was to make sure they were all processed, to process that backlog, and that's exactly what we've done, we've completed that processing."
But Stephen Kinnock, Labour's shadow immigration minister, said the government's claims were "false" and the asylum backlog had "rocketed" under the Tories.
"No slicing or renaming the figures can disguise that fact," he said.
"Over 4,000 claims are unresolved and a disturbing 17,000 asylum seekers have simply been 'withdrawn' by the Tories from this legacy backlog, with ministers seeming to have no idea where they are and whether they are reapplying or disappearing into the underground economy."
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said progress had been made but it was "misleading for the government to claim that the legacy backlog has been cleared as there are thousands still waiting for a decision".
He also accused the government of failing to explain why the claims of thousands of people have been withdrawn, adding: "The reality is that the Home Office has lost track of too many people who have been removed from the asylum process."
The Home Office said more than 112,000 asylum cases were processed by officials last year, exceeding the prime minister's commitment.
It says in one four-week period from 20 November to 17 December 2023, there were 20,481 initial asylum decisions made - more than the number of asylum decisions made in the whole of 2021.
Mr Sunak said the department's efforts were "saving the taxpayer millions of pounds in expensive hotel costs, reducing strain on public services and ensuring the most vulnerable receive the right support".
Legacy cases refer only to people in the asylum system on 28 June 2022, the day when new asylum rules came into force.
All of those cases have been reviewed but not all have been resolved with 4,500 reclassified as "complex".
The Home Office says such cases typically involve asylum seekers presenting as children - age verification, serious medical issues or checks on suspected convictions can be among the issues.
Key pledges
In January last year, the PM outlined five key priorities for the year - stopping boats bringing people across the English Channel was one of them.
Figures released on Monday said the number of migrants crossing the Channel had fallen year-on-year for the first time since current records began - the provisional annual total for the year, 29,437, is 36% lower than the record 45,774 crossings for the whole of 2022.
The government also said that in 2023 it had:
returned more than 24,000 people who had no right to be in the UK, including more than 5,500 Albanians
increased enforcement visits - 10,509 in the first nine months compared to 6,865 in the same period in 2022
