Up to 15,000 families who applied for asylum more than three years ago are to be allowed to remain in the UK, the Home Secretary has announced.
The amnesty will affect families who applied for asylum in the UK before 2 October 2000, had children before that date and who "suffered from historical delays in the system". In the main, these families are currently being supported by the Government. Up to 3,000 families who are not receiving support from the Government may also qualify for leave to remain under the measure.
The families will be given Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, which will entitle them to work and to mainstream benefits. Mr Blunkett said: "Granting this group indefinite leave to remain and enabling them to work is the most cost-effective way of dealing with the situation and will save taxpayers' money on support and legal aid. These are difficult decisions but I do not believe it is the best use of taxpayer's money to take these expensive longstanding individual appeals through the courts".
The Government will be writing to people affected by this one-off measure, which has been welcomed by the Refugee Council.
However, Blunkett's announcement also contained a less welcome tough new measure, to end all future support for families who claimed asylum after 3rd October 2000 who have been refused asylum, who fail to take up offers of voluntary return to their home countries.
In response to this last measure, Maeve Sherlock, the Refugee Council's Chief Executive, expressed concerns that the threat of having support removed may lead people to be pressurised to return to unsafe countries,
"The Government must ensure than no one is returned where it is unsafe for them. We want assurance from the Government that families will not be denied support if the country they come from is unsafe, as is the case with Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia".
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