“THOUSANDS OF APPLICANTS FACE DESTITUTION OVER CHRISTMAS”, REPORT WARNS

Laws that withdraw all support from asylum seekers should be scrapped as part of a far-reaching overhaul of the system designed to speed up decisions and return people to their home countries, according to a new report from the think-tank set up by the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith.

The 112-page report warns that the existing system forces refused applicants to choose between destitution and a twilight world dominated by prostitution and the black economy.

At least 26,000 failed asylum seekers in Britain are subsisting on Red Cross food parcels and many more are reliant on charities for their survival.

But there is no evidence that withdrawing financial support is having the effect that the Government intends. Only one in five failed asylum seekers returns voluntarily to their home country and most simply go underground.

Other comparable countries achieve voluntary return rates as high as 80 per cent. But in the UK there are at least 450,000 asylum seekers in the system and a backlog of 280,000 failed applicants that will probably take nearly 20 years to resolve.

“Making refused asylum seekers homeless and penniless is hugely counterproductive,” the report from the Centre for Social Justice says. “It is much more difficult to work with them to encourage voluntary return or to ensure timely removal.”

Forcible removal of failed asylum seekers is also very expensive, costing on average £11,000 a case – ten times the cost of a voluntary return.

Mr Duncan Smith said that the plight of thousands of asylum seekers this Christmas, many of whom were reliant on charities to survive, was a sad reflection on British society.

“ The policy of making asylum seekers destitute is mean and nasty and has not worked,” Mr Duncan Smith said.

In a preface to the report, he says: “The evidence gathered for this report shows that the welcome offered today falls far short of our traditional standards…

“It also appears that a British government is using forced destitution as a means of encouraging people to leave voluntarily. It is a failed policy…

“UK policy is still driven by the thesis, clearly falsified, that

we can encourage people to leave by being nasty. The result is that we rely heavily on forcible return, which is both very costly and time-consuming, and engages only a small proportion of those whose claims are refused.

“This system…gives refused asylum seekers good reason to abscond and little reason to engage with officialdom.”

The report has been produced by a 10-strong working group of experts chaired by Julian Prior, projects director of the charity Open Door, which helps asylum seekers in the north east of England.

The report says that Britain’s lack of success in persuading failed asylum seekers to return home voluntarily is part of a broader policy failure.

It recommends sweeping changes to the current system to speed up the processing of claims and ensure that those accepted are quickly integrated into mainstream society while those rejected are returned home – voluntarily or forcibly – within six months.

This contrasts the current cumbersome system which takes, on average, 13 months to remove a failed applicant.

The report recommends a new, more streamlined and fairer system to process applications, make decisions and repatriate asylum seekers refused entry.

The role of the UK Border Agency should be limited to enforcement of immigration laws. A new independent body consisting of a panel of three full-time magistrates should be set up to adjudicate on applications and charities and voluntary groups should be given state contracts to support asylum seekers while their cases are prepared and heard and while applicants are either integrated into society or helped to return home voluntarily.

The report recommends:

* That housing and financial support should continue until successful applicants are integrated into mainstream society or –if they have been refused – for a maximum of six months pending voluntary or forcible removal.

* Forced return should be a “real and timely option” by focusing the Border Agency on this aspect of the work. The process from refusal to return home should take no longer than six months.

* That asylum seekers refused entry but unable to return home should be given a temporary licence to enable them to work and to access health care. The licence should be reviewed every year.

(For media inquires, please contact Media Intelligence Partners Ltd: Nick Wood on 07889 617003 or 0203 008 8146 or Alistair Thompson on 07970 162225 or 0203 008 8145)

[Picture: Yeukai Taruvinga, asylum seeker and Asylum Working Group member with Iain Duncan Smith MP, Chairman of the Centre for Social Justice.]