The government has published its much trailed asylum policy, ‘Restoring order and Control’ this afternoon
The Prime Minister says ‘our asylum system was not designed to cope’ with the volatile and insecure world we now live in. ‘There is nothing compassionate about allowing the vile trade in people-smuggling that perpetuates illegal migration to persist,’ he concluded.
Migrant families whose asylum claims have been rejected will be deported if they refuse cash incentives to leave the UK under plans announced by the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood in the Commons
Mahmood said the government has a “moral duty” to fix the “broken” asylum regime and “unite what is today a divided country.
“I know the British people do not want to close the doors, but until we restore order and control, those who seek to divide us will grow stronger. It is our job to unite when there is division”
The reforms to deport families and children who failed at asylum, starting with voluntary return payments, then enforced removals after a consultation while there will be a consultation on cutting support for families who don’t take steps to leave the UK after being refused asylum
The plans include the scrapping of the legal duty to support asylum seekers and replace it with a discretionary system
Plans will deny support to any asylum seeker who has the right to work but doesn’t, as well as those who break rules, deliberately become destitute, or commit crimes
Meanwhile asylum seekers will be required to hand over non essential assets such as jewellery, but not wedding rings, and sell it to help pay for their accommodation
This includes any money or assets they brought with them or gained in the UK on a visa route before claiming asylum and the Home Office will be allowed to demand repayment later if it turns out someone had assets they didn’t declare or if those assets become usable after support is given
Plans will cut the time someone can stay after being granted protection from five years to 30 months, after which their status will be reviewed and returned to their home country if deemed safe
Refugees will have to wait 20 years before they can permanently stay in the UK, which can be shortened if they switch to a work route or pay a fee for a study route
There will be automatic family reunion for everyone on the basic protection route, but leave it open to some of those on the work or study route, with separate rules for children and families still to be decided
Plans will restrict benefits for people granted asylum unless they are working or contributing to the economy and to force people back to countries the Government now considers safe enough to return to, including Syria
The Government also plans to Impose visa penalties or sanctions on countries that refuse to take back their own citizens, starting with Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo
Foreign offenders will be deported from the first day of their prison sentence
Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey suggested the government was ‘trying to feed into the rhetoric of quite far-right organisations’
