11 May – 21 May
So it’s official: the new Prime Minister will be one Mr Gordon Brown. While not much of a surprise, it does lend a new certainty to the political framework within which asylum and immigration policy will be formed over the next couple of years.
There are three rumours flitting about Westminster with regards to who will up the Home Office. The first is that Jack Straw could return to his old stomping ground. John Denham, currently chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee and ex-Home Office Minister is the second possibility. The final alleged contender is current Environment Secretary David Miliband.
Last week we concluded that it would be difficult for the policies under a new leadership to change without the politics of asylum changing – which, for various reasons, looks unlikely at the moment.
There may, however, be room for some shifts in the terms of debate, which – as supported by Dagenham MP and Labour Deputy Leadership candidate Jon Cruddas – should be a necessary step to more progressive asylum policies. Positive language and a new framework for debate could remove some of the vitriol and hate from the asylum debate. At the Refugee Council we hope and expect that less prejudicial language would open the door to better treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. Cruddas is calling for asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers to be allowed to work, and for an end to the destitution of refused asylum seekers.
Brown has named migration as a challenge to which he must rise – and a priority that he wants to discuss with people across the country. He has also, according to the Guardian, commissioned some of the Labour young blood – Burnham, Hughes, Purnell, the Eds – to think outside the box on key challenges for the Party. This willingness to consult provides us with a key opportunity to feed into the debate and to help develop a progressive agenda for the future.
In other news, we expect the UK Borders Bill to have its Second Reading in the Lords on 13 June. We will be pressing hard to get a Lords amendment which encompasses our Still Human Still Here campaign – ending the destitution of refused asylum seekers.
25 April - 10 May
As I write, the Prime Minister is announcing to his Cabinet the date that he will quit. After a long period pf political stability we know enter an era of political change and opportunity with at least one new PM in a matter or months, and possibly another within a few years.
Will this mean a change of policy as far as asylum is concerned? At least in the short-term it is difficult to see how the policies can change without the politics of asylum changing – and that would require a huge investment of a new (New?) Labour Prime Minister’s personal political capital to change the terms of debate. With the Conservatives riding high in the polls it looks unlikely that Labour, having taken a bit of drubbing in last week’s local elections, would risk that.
The UK Borders Bill will be an interesting litmus test for any change in asylum policy under Labour. A Bill instigated under Blair, reflecting the priorities of John Reid and championed by a junior minister who may well be promoted in a Brown reshuffle. It has now finished its progress through the House of Commons and it is now for the Lords to scrutinise and amend – but by the time it comes back to the Commons for MPs to review the changes made by the Lords, we will have a new PM, a new Home Secretary and maybe even a new Immigration Minister.
There was no sign of any change yesterday though, when MPs debated the Bill in full for the last time. Despite a great deal of lobbying by the Still Human Still Here campaign to push for a debate on the destitution of refused asylum seekers, the Speaker did not call the amendments laid by Jon Cruddas MP and Neil Gerrard MP who are championing the campaign in Parliament. At earlier stages of the Bill the Government had firmly resisted any suggestion that support should be provided to refused asylum seekers.
The campaign will now focus its efforts on the House of Lords, which is always more receptive on asylum issues – it is that much easier to stick your head above the parapet if you don’t have a majority to worry about…
Hansard: Report stage debate on the UK Borders Bill
Still Human Still Here campaign
5th April - 24th April
MPs have returned from their Easter recess and immigration issues are once again high on the agenda. The UK Borders Bill is due to be debated by MPs at Report stage in the House of Commons in early May, a left of centre thinktank has published a pamphlet on immigration and integration with a challenging contribution from Immigration Minister Liam Byrne MP, and a right-wing thinktank has also weighed in with a criticism of the lack of a properly managed migration system.
Where is asylum in all this? It is certainly becoming overshadowed by immigration as a political issue, but any MP in an inner-city street will tell you that asylum remains a concern of voters. And of course, organisations like the Refugee Council and the campaign Still Human Still Here are concerned by issues such as the destitution of large numbers of refused asylum seekers.
It is in this context that the Independent Asylum Commission is conducting a nationwide review of the UK asylum system. Its commissioners are travelling across the country to listen to evidence from all sides of the argument and will produce recommendations for reform in 2008.
Before Easter, the Commission held a Public Hearing and Roadshow at the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in West London, and heard evidence relating to the detention of asylum seekers.
Ex-detainees gave evidence from behind a screen to protect their identity and talked from their own experiences about the lack of access to legal representation; poor welfare provision and ill-treatment by staff; poor conditions in the centres themselves; high rates of self-harm and suicide and poor healthcare; and the impact on detained children and families.
Helen Ireland, Co-ordinator of the Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees, expressed grave concern over the high number of incidents of self harm and suicide in immigration removal centres and blamed poor living conditions.
Ms Ireland said:
"Our visitors - local volunteers who befriend detainees - see the profound hopelessness, despair and suicidal urges caused by the experience of detention. Visitors are very concerned about the incidents of self-harm. In Haslar immigration removal centre there are thirty men sharing a dormitory with a television set - it is not the right way to treat people."
Faith, an asylum seeker from Zimbabwe who was detained for seven months, complained about the standard of treatment from staff at the removal centre, and how it had left her angry, confused and anxious that she was being treated badly in a country where she had sought protection.
Faith said:
"It is more than just physical torture, it is mental torture too. The staff made you feel like you don't belong. I was treated like an animal."
Rev'd Larry Wright, formerly the chaplain to staff and detainees at Yarl's Wood removal centre, explained that detention centre staff were also under great pressure.
Rev'd Wright said:
"I am concerned about the prison-like regime. Whenever people have temporary power over others - as detention centre staff have over detainees - there is the temptation to abuse it. So it is essential to have more outside monitors to prevent abuse."
Peter Booth, National Council Member for the Independent Monitoring Boards, that monitor conditions in immigration removal centres on behalf of the Home Secretary, agreed that conditions in some detention centres were unacceptable: "I think that Haslar removal centre should be closed."
Sir John Waite, Co-Chair of the Independent Asylum Commission, said:
"At this second hearing of the Commission, we got a unique insight into the humanity and inhumanity existing side-by-side in the detention system. My fellow Commissioners and I heard evidence that raises real concerns about the UK's asylum system and raises real questions for the Home Office and those who run the centres. And that is why our enquiry is so timely. But this is a fair and impartial Commission and this is just the start - we know that this is a difficult issue and we will be seeking a response from the Home Office which will also be used as evidence. We will be doing our utmost to listen to all sides before we publish our report and recommendations next year, and encourage those working in the detention estate and the asylum system to contact us to give us their side of the story."
The Commission is due to hold two further hearings before the summer break: in Cardiff on May 22nd and in Glasgow on June 5th, and seeks evidence from asylum seekers and refugees, those working with them, those implementing the system, and from concerned members of the public.
Policy Network - Rethinking Immigration and Integration: a New Centre-Left Agenda
Civitas - A Nation of Immigrants?
Still Human Still Here: www.stillhuman.org.uk
Independent Asylum Commission: www.independentasylumcommission.org.uk
20 March - 04 April
The flurry of recent activity in Westminster has dwindled over the past few days, as MPs prepared to pack away their briefing papers in anticipation of the Easter break.
The Government has been slightly more active than its backbenchers. In the past week, it has announced plans to strengthen the UK’s ‘off-shore’ border and attempted to pack Darfuri asylum seekers onto flights before the High Court ruled against it on a test case.
Minister for Immigration Liam Byrne announced that more people will face checks before entering the UK in order to tighten further the UK’s borders. Confirming that the Government would also be establishing a Migration Advisory Committee, Mr Byrne stated that his strategy creates a system of triple checks for foreign nationals:
- By the end of 2008, half the countries in the world – covering three quarters of the world’s population – will need biometric visas with their fingerprints checked against the UK Government database before they are able to travel to the UK.
- From 2009, the majority of people will be counted in and out of the UK.
- ID cards for foreign nationals will help ensure that only ‘those entitled’ gain access to work and benefits.
And after the Government sent 60 Darfuri asylum seekers a sheaf of letters ordering them to report to immigration officials for swift deportations back to Sudan, a last-minute returns flight on April 3rd was prevented from taking off following a successful lobby by groups including the Aegis Trust. A judgement came back from the High Court the following day to quash the Secretary of State’s decision to refuse three Darfuri asylum seekers – a decision which could block all removals to Sudan for Darfuris. The Government is spitting a few teeth as you read this.
Back in Parliament, the Joint Committee on Human Rights published its report on The Treatment of Asylum Seekers, with a devastating 63 recommendation critique on the Government’s use of the system. It concludes that by refusing permission for asylum seekers to work and operating a system of support which results in widespread destitution, the Government's treatment of asylum seekers in a number of cases breaches the European Convention of Human Rights threshold of inhuman and degrading treatment. It also recommends that free primary and secondary healthcare be provided for all those who have made a claim for asylum whilst they are in the UK.
The report was published only 24 hours after the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust funded Commission into asylum destitution in Leeds had launched its own report, creating something of a groundswell of criticism of the effects of government policies on asylum seekers. It also followed a debate on the treatment of asylum seekers in which Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn mentioned our Just.Fair campaign in supporting the recommendations of the Still Human Still Here campaign to end destitution.
In other news, the Public Bill Committee completed its scrutiny of the UK Borders Bill. The Bill is likely to return to the floor of the House of Commons after the Easter recess, when we will be continuing our efforts to end the destitution of refused asylum seekers. In the meantime, please get in touch with your MP and ask them to support the Still Human Still Here amendment to the UK Borders Bill.
You can find out how to contact your MP here
You can view the Still Human Still Here campaign here
You can view the JCHR report here
You can view the JRCT report here
You can read the debate on the treatment of asylum seekers here
06 - 19 March
The language of the asylum and immigration debate plunged to a new nadir with the publication of the Home Office’s recent enforcement strategy. The launch was accompanied by talk of "...foreigners [that] come to this country illegitimately and steal our benefits, steal our services like that NHS and undermine the minimum wage by working. Year on year, we are going to make it even more difficult for them to do that."
Even worse was the boast that "we are now throwing out more asylum seekers - than ever before." Nick Clegg MP, the Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman accused the Home Secretary of sounding like Alf Garnett!
But there was some good news on language – on ESOL in fact. The Refugee Council has been campaigning against ESOL cuts that would severely impact asylum seekers and refugees who want to learn English.
Bill Rammell MP, the Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education has announced the following concessions:
- after 6 months, people with an ongoing asylum claim will be eligible for ESOL funding;
- people who have been refused, but can’t leave because of circumstances beyond their control and who are eligible for Section 4 support will receive funding for ESOL;
- asylum seekers who go on a waiting list for ESOL before their 19th birthday will be eligible to take up the course if a place becomes available after they turn 19;
- the DfES will look at a wider range of evidence demonstrating low pay other than the Working Tax Credit.
The Minister also announced that he is initiating a Cross-Government Review group to look at activities and responsibilities in delivering support for asylum seekers and ESOL. Just shows you that it is worth making a fuss about these issues and lobbying for change – it works sometimes!
The last Political Review focused on a new campaign – Still Human Still Here – which is pushing for an amendment to the UK Borders Bill to make provision for destitute refused asylum seekers. The amendment was discussed during the Public Bill Committee stage last week. Public Bill Committee is when a small group of MPs, reflecting the political makeup of the House of Commons, discusses the provisions of the Bill line-by-line.
Responding to the Still Human Still Here amendment, Government Minister, Joan Ryan MP, said:
"The proposed new clause seeks to end destitution for refused asylum seekers in the UK... [The] proposal is supported by a range of refugee and other organisations. ....I understand the concerns about asylum support that gave rise to the new clause, as do other Committee members. None us wish to see people living in destitution. However, the Government cannot support a proposal that would maintain asylum support, potentially indefinitely, for those who have made an asylum claim and had it and any appeal rejected and have chosen not to return voluntarily. In such circumstances, the harsh fact is that people who do not need our protection have chosen to be destitute. Returning home is a clear alternative for them."
Our experience is that returning home is not always a clear alternative for many people. We will be arguing that it is for the government to help refused asylum seekers voluntarily return or remove them in a safe and sustainable way – not use destitution in an attempt to ‘encourage’ them to leave the UK.
We will be pushing the amendment to a vote in the House of Commons when the Bill reaches Report stage. Any MP can speak or vote at Report stage, so please get in touch with your MP and ask them to support the Still Human Still Here amendment to the UK Borders Bill.
You can find out how to contact your MP here
You can read the Public Bill Committee debate here
You can read the new Home Office Enforcement strategy here
Find out more about our ESOL campaign here
07 February – 05 March
The big event last month was our sleepout protest outside Parliament Square. We met with a number of MPs who came to visit their consituents and talk to destitute asylum seekers. For an online diary about how that went, go to: www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/sleepout
It has been a busy few weeks of lobbying for the Refugee Council. Last week the Refugee Council joined a mass lobby in protest over planned cuts in provision of English classes to asylum seekers and refugees.
The Refugee Council joined the University and College Union, Refugee Action NIACE, and other organisations to try to stop the government from going ahead with cuts to the provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes.
As of August 2007, asylum seekers will no longer be entitled to free ESOL classes, and refugees who are in work and not claiming any income-based benefits will also not be able to access lessons for free.
The Refugee Council has serious concerns about the impact this will have. Asylum seekers will struggle to access basic services, more will have to be spent on interpreting, and should they be given permission to stay in the UK they will find it harder to integrate into the wider community. For refugees, limiting access to English classes will increase the difficulties they already face in building new lives in the UK and finding work. Many refugees are unemployed or in jobs which don’t use their skills and experience, and refugee communities are among the poorest in the country.
The mass lobby of Parliament began with a mock ESOL lesson on Parliament Square. Asylum seekers and refugees from across the country who have benefited from ESOL lessons attended, along with key speakers including Anna Reisenberger, acting Chief Executive of the Refugee Council. The lesson was staged to highlight the positive effects of providing ESOL and the damage stopping funding will have, particularly for asylum seekers.
The Minister for Further Education, Bill Rammell MP, addressed the meeting and said he would look again at the provision of ESOL for asylum seekers. Watch this space!
This week I am devoting most of the Political Review to an exciting new campaign to end the destitution of refused asylum seekers that has been brewing in the last few months.
The Still Human Still Here campaign consists of refugee, human rights and migration organisations, lawyers, faith groups and anti-poverty charities and voluntary bodies who are joining forces to end the scandal of asylum destitution in the UK.
There is a growing body of evidence that destitution among refused asylum seekers is widespread and is having a devastating impact on already vulnerable individuals.
Recent reports by Amnesty International and Refugee Action are the latest in a series chronicling the plight of destitute refused asylum seekers across the UK. Refused asylum-seekers in our towns and cities are being forced to sleep in parks, public toilets and phone-boxes, to go without vital medicines even after suffering torture, and to relying on the charity of friends or drop-in shelters to survive.
Charities report an upsurge in destitute asylum seekers coming to them for help. The Refugee Council’s internal database shows that in 2006 their offices saw 9,060 clients who were making inquiries about Section 4 out of a total of 39,169 clients seen – i.e. 23.13 % of the total number of clients. This reflects a trend over recent years for more and more clients coming to the offices of refugee charities destitute.
So Still Human Still Here aims to:
- End the threat and use of destitution as a tool of Government policy against refused asylum seekers
- Continue financial support and accommodation to refused asylum seekers as provided during the asylum process and grant permission to work until such a time as they have left the UK or have been granted leave to remain.
- Continue to provide full access to health care and education throughout the same period.
Still Human Still Here is lobbying for an amendment to the UK Borders Bill currently going through Parliament, which would ensure that refused asylum seekers would continue to receive asylum support and access to healthcare up until the time they leave the UK.
We will need support from as many people as possible to lobby their MPs and persuade them that this makes sense, as the Government is increasingly bullish on this issue. In the next few weeks, we will let you know how you can lobby your MP and get involved in the campaign.
In the meantime, please help raise the issue of asylum destitution with your friends and colleagues by showing them the Just. Fair viral animation: www.justfair.org.uk.
See also:
Our Just.Fair campaign on Destitution
Our parliamentary briefing on the UK Borders Bill
23 January – 06 February
New UK Borders Bill a missed opportunity
If Home Office scandals are like the ‘flu – potent and very common - new asylum laws are proposed like the cure-all medicines. We have had five major bills in the past ten years – and each one, on the whole, has made life more difficult for asylum seekers and refugees.
Like the ‘flu, Home Office scandals are infectious, and even John Reid and Liam Byrne are not immune. So on 5th February, the UK Borders Bill 2007 had its second reading in the House of Commons. The Home Office is presenting the Bill as a major measure to crack down on illegal immigration:
“The Bill will build stronger borders, tackle organised crime and remove incentives for illegal immigrants to come to Britain… The Bill will equip the new Border and Immigration Agency with a wide range of new powers to deter, detect and deport those breaking the rules and ensure that those foreign nationals legally in the UK play their part in upholding the rules.”
But we think that this is a real missed opportunity for radical reforms and that the Bill treats the symptoms rather than the cause.
It is clear that there need to be further improvements to the asylum system, but introducing ever tougher measures will not solve the problems. The UK already has a very tough system and yet it does not command public confidence and it penalises people who have fled persecution. What is needed now is a radical new approach that is fair and effective.
Our five point plan addresses the problem in a balanced way. The five points are:
- Borders with doors for refugees
The UK has a right to manage its borders, but today, there is almost no legal route for someone to come to the UK and seek asylum. We need to make sure that border controls do not prevent people fleeing persecution from being able to get to safety in the UK
- An independent decision-making body that gets decisions right first time.
The UK needs to invest in getting asylum decisions right first time. An arms length relationship between the Home Office and the Immigration and Nationality Directorate is not enough: the UK should establish an independent decision making body.
- Supporting people to live with dignity
The UK should stop forcing people into poverty and destitution in the name of immigration control. Whilst people are in the UK, they should be able to access housing, support and healthcare. Asylum seekers should be allowed to work when their claim remains undecided for more than six months.
- Safe, dignified and sustainable returns
The UK should not seek to return people to countries where they are at risk of torture or persecution, nor should it seek to punish people into returning by withdrawing support, or using detention.
- An informed and enlightened debate on asylum
Instead of continually responding to hostile public opinion by introducing ever tougher measures, the government should take a lead in generating an informed and reasoned debate on asylum.
We have briefed MPs to raise these issues during the passage of the Bill – whether they are listened to is another matter…
Read:
Our parliamentary briefing on the UK Borders Bill
UK Borders Bill
Independent Asylum Commission hears of inhumanity and injustice in UK asylum system
An independently-run national “citizens’ enquiry” has heard evidence of inhumane treatment of asylum seekers by a UK Home Office permeated by what some claim is “a culture of cynicism and unbelief.”
The Independent Asylum Commission, which operates independently of both government and the voluntary sector, held the first of seven regional public hearings and road-shows in St Anne’s Roman Catholic Church, Birmingham, on 31 January 2007.
The hearing focused on the asylum determination process and the impact of asylum seekers on the West Midlands. Commissioners Sir John Waite, Canon Nicholas Sagovsky, the Earl of Sandwich and the Countess of Mar heard testimony from a dozen local witnesses including asylum seekers, refugees, the police, local authority representatives, solicitors and those working with asylum seekers and refugees.
Local solicitor Margaret Finch testified that there was a deep cynicism at the heart of the Home Office asylum decision-making process that encouraged a culture of disbelief of asylum seekers’ claims.
Ms Finch declared: “There is a lack of open-mindedness. Solicitors find themselves fighting a guerilla war with the government to ensure the basic human rights of asylum seekers are protected”.
Local refugees and asylum seekers told the Commissioners of the manifold problems they faced when claiming asylum, including: rude Home Office staff; corrupt interpreters; lost documents; poor country information; incorrect termination of financial support; and frequent transfer to different accommodation.
Cissy, a journalist from Gambia whose asylum claim was refused but is having his claim reconsidered in the light of new evidence, explained: “I was persecuted in my country for my journalism and it was not safe for me there. But claiming asylum in the UK was like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Refugee status is no good to a corpse – we need it while we are alive.”
Claudette, an asylum seeker from the Ivory Coast, broke down in tears as she recounted how the Home Office interpreter and an officer from the flagship New Asylum Model - piloted in the West Midlands – laughed at her during her asylum interview.
Another witness, Tendai, a businesswoman from Zimbabwe, said that she felt that the decision about her asylum claim was made as soon as the interviewer looked at her. Ali, an asylum seeker from Iraq recalled how a member of Home Office staff tried to speed up an interview in order to get out to a Valentine’s Day meal with his wife.
Buzimungu, a refugee from Rwanda was finally granted refugee status after three years in limbo and two years in which his financial support was cut off. “I was moved eighteen times in that period – I lost contact with my solicitor and my GP, and my financial support was cut off just before my asylum interview.”
Sir John Waite, co-chair of the Independent Asylum Commission, said: “At this first hearing of the Commission, we heard some incredibly powerful testimonies that raise real concerns about the UK’s asylum system and raise real questions for the Home Office. And that is why our enquiry is so timely.”
He added: “But this is a fair and impartial Commission and this is just the start - we know that this is a difficult issue and we will be seeking a response from the Home Office which will also be used as evidence. We will be doing our utmost to listen to all sides before we publish our report and recommendations next year.”
Independent Asylum Commission
Ekklesia report
9 January – 23 January
Home Office could be split within months
Barely a month goes by without a new Home Office scandal. Whether it is foreign prisoners not being considered for deportation or corrupt officials making asylum decisions, the Home Secretary’s brief is one of the toughest in government.
Hence John Reid’s appointment last year as the ‘enforcer’ drafted in to sort things out. He soon declared some parts of the Home Office “not fit for purpose” and pledged to sort the problem out. Since then the problems have continued, and Reid seems to feel that the Home Office is too big to handle and needs to be broken up.
So over the weekend he let it be known that he would like to break the Home Office into two – with one half covering immigration and security and the other half - police, probation and criminal justice - becoming a Ministry of Justice.
The idea of breaking up the Home Office has been kicking around for a while, but no previous Home Secretary has wanted to deliberately reduce the size of their own empire… until now. Apparently the Cabinet is to discuss the proposal at its weekly meeting on Thursday, but Reid says that the process could begin in a matter of months.
Although this is unlikely to cause a radical change in asylum policy, much will depend on who takes on the Security and Immigration brief. The likelihood is that we are unlikely to get anything other than a no-nonsense enforcer-style politician in that role, given the sensitivity of both terrorism and immigration at the moment.
Chief Inspector of Prisons says short-term holding centres must improve
Almost as regular as a Home Office scandal is a report from the Chief Inspector of Prisons criticising a detention centre!
Following unannounced inspections at four immigration short-term holding facilities, Anne Owers, Chief Inspector of Prisons, has once again published reports detailing serious shortcomings with the facilities.
Responding to HMCIP's reports, Home Office Minister Liam Byrne emphasised his commitment to the use of the holding facilities and said:
‘non-residential short-term holding facilities are intended to accommodate people for very brief periods of time. Short-term detention is only used when necessary - usually prior to removal or when further investigations are made on individuals arriving in the UK. Detention is an essential part of an effective immigration system’
The Home Office are looking at the recommendations, and action plans responding in detail are currently being drawn up to ensure improvements are made.
HMIP Reports:
Report on 3 immigration holding facilities (PDF)
Report on Colnbrook (PDF)
And finally…
A few Parliamentary Questions are worth flagging up:
12 December – 8 January
Home Office 3 for 2 festive border control 'gift'
Happy New Year to all readers! You may have been fortunate enough to see festive episode of The Thick of It on BBC4 last week. Not only is this satirical take on contemporary politics hilariously funny (as well as scarily accurate), it also featured the creation of an independent decision-making body for asylum to be introduced as the Prime Minister’s legacy. The Refugee Council has campaigned for this for years – so if you are listening Tony…
I don’t know what you got for Christmas, but the Home Office plumped for a ‘three for two’ offer on increased border control as its ‘gift’ to the nation. Just before the recess Immigration Minister Liam Byrne MP announced two strategic action plans: one for the national identity scheme and one for borders, immigration and identity.
The upshot is that from 2008 the Home Office will:
- Screen and store biometric ID for everyone from the 169 nationalities outside the EEA applying to work, study or stay in the UK for more than six months;
- Also require biometric ID for people from 108 nationalities applying to visit the UK, even for periods shorter than six months;
- Undertake electronic background checks on 30 million people, start checking fingerprints at borders and, increasingly from 2009, count visitors in as they land and count them out as they leave;
- Roll out biometric ID progressively to foreign nationals from outside the EEA who are already in the UK and reapply to stay; introduce new identity checking services for employers and other government agencies; and begin to issue a National Insurance Number only when a biometric identity has been established.
And the belated ‘gift’ we got for free was reported in the Guardian last week. The Home Office has been considering how to change the way it treats children who have been separated from their families and claim asylum in the UK. There are often disputes over whether a claimant is under 18 or not, because they are treated differently to adults. Now a leaked Home Office document suggests that young asylum seekers will have x-rays and of their teeth and wrists to try and determine their age.
Except the technology isn’t all that accurate: they are accurate only to within plus or minus two years in assessing age, so could not distinguish with certainty between a 16 and a 20-year-old.
It will be interesting to see if the Home Office sticks with the plan or if it is quietly dropped before final publication.
Read: Liam Byrne’s ministerial statement in full
Read: Strategic Action Plan for the National Identity Scheme
Read: Borders, Immigration and Identity Action Plan
Guardian: X-ray plan for young asylum seekers
Tories outflank the government on trafficking
This week the Conservatives neatly outflanked Labour on the issue of people trafficking by promising to sign up to and ratify the European Convention on Action against Trafficking 2005. The Convention has already been signed by 34 states and there is mounting pressure for the UK to do so too. However, the Government are worried about the implications for immigration control and are likely to make an announcement in a few weeks.
Beneath all that soft stuff Shadow Home Secretary repeated his desire for a specialist UK Border Police Force that would have the expertise to intercept traffickers and victims at British borders. We know little detail of this proposal yet – so watch this space!
Read: Conservative Trafficking Proposals
And finally...
A few Parliamentary Questions are worth flagging up:
28 November – 12 December
Political reaction to Harmondsworth report
Following an investigation in July Anne Owers, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, has raised serious concerns about the treatment of detainees at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre.
The report was truly damning, and reinforces what the Refugee Council has been telling the Home Office for some time: that it is the worst of the detention centres.
The report showed that 60% of clients feel unsafe in Harmondsworth and nearly half feel they are victimised by the staff. Asylum seekers are not criminals; they are people who are vulnerable and scared. Their treatment should reflect that.
Anne Owers stated that there is too much emphasis on security, control and punishment in Harmondsworth. This points to a wider problem with detaining asylum seekers. To all intents and purposes, these detention centres are prisons. Whatever is done to improve these places doesn’t alter that fact. We should question whether there is any need to lock up people who’ve committed no crime and who cause no harm to the wider community.
A few days later the detainees were watching the 10 o’clock news when a report on Harmondsworth came on. A guard switched the channel and this is reported to have sparked the disturbances, which Home Secretary John Reid described as:
“an attempt to sabotage the enforcement of our immigration law. The perpetrators have been prepared to destroy property and to endanger their fellow detainees. They have, themselves, harmed their own environment. We will not allow them to succeed in frustrating the enforcement of the law”
Nick Clegg MP, the Lib Dem Shadow Home Secretary, said:
"Following the damning report of the prisons inspector this week these events were eerily predictable. These are not the first disturbances at Harmondsworth. Why have lessons not been learnt? If deportees are treated in an inhumane fashion, this sort of unrest is bound to ensue."
Meanwhile, it transpires that Kalyx, the private company that runs Harmondsworth, has agreed to pay the Home Office £5 million for not fulfilling the terms of its contract. The Home Office is now drafting an action plan to respond to Anne Owers’ criticisms.
HMIP: Harmondsworth Report (PDF only)
Home Office: Press release (PDF only)
Hansard: John Reid’s statement (PDF only)
Hansard: Debate on Harmondsworth (PDF only)
See also:
Go to our news review for how this story was covered in the media
No place for a child
Continuing on the theme of detention, earlier this year the Refugee Council campaigned with a number of other charities for an end to the detention of children. The No Place for a Child campaign brought to the public’s attention that 2,000 children are detained in immigration removal centres every year… in the UK.
These children, ranging from babies to teenagers, are detained for indefinite periods, sometimes several months, but have never committed a crime. In fact, their only crime is that they happen to be the children of asylum seekers.
The No Place for a Child campaign called on the Government to end the detention of children. It also encouraged the Home Office to pilot alternatives to the detention of families which have been used in other countries. The campaign was backed by 14,000 members of the public, many charities, campaigning and faith groups, and over a quarter of MPs backed an Early Day Motion (EDM) backing the campaign.
EDMs are a bit like parliamentary graffiti – they have no formal power but serve to show ministers how strongly MPs feel about an issue. This is particularly important at this time because the Home Office is still considering its response to the campaign’s report into alternatives and we are still seeking a meeting with John Reid, the Home Secretary. However, all EDMs lapse at the end of the parliamentary year, and so our successful EDM is being revamped, and we are trying to get all the MPs who signed last time to sign up again, and for new ones to sign up too.
So please contact your MP and ask them to sign EDM 399.
EDM 399
No Place for a Child website: www.noplaceforachild.org
Report into alternatives to detention of families
And finally...
A few Parliamentary Questions are worth flagging up:
15 – 28 November
New Asylum and Immigration Bill announced
Last Wednesday, as she outlined the Government’s legislative programme for the year, the Queen said this:
“A Bill will be introduced to provide the immigration service with further powers to police the country's borders, tackle immigration crime, and to make it easier to deport those who break the law.”
Asylum bills seem to come along with greater regularity than London buses – for quite a specific and small part of government activity, asylum has taken up a disproportionate amount of parliamentary time in the last decade.
We have been expecting a new asylum bill – the sixth in 11 years – for some time now. We know very little about the content of the Bill, but we suspect that it is likely to focus largely on immigration. However, we do know that a number of the proposed provisions will affect asylum seekers.
Since John Reid’s speech at Labour Party Conference when he pledged to deport foreign nationals who threatened our security “no ifs, no buts”, there is a section covering asylum seekers who have been convicted of crimes while awaiting a decision on their application. Under the new Asylum and Immigration Bill, asylum seekers in this category will not have access to houses, jobs or benefits. This is a response to the case of the Afghan hi-jackers – and Ministers are clear that they anticipate it will only affect a handful of people.
The Bill will not be debated in Parliament until the Spring. You can chart its progress through Parliament on the Leader of the Commons’ website here.
Read a transcript of the Queen’s Speech
Home Office asylum statistics
Every quarter the Home Office produces asylum statistics which detail the number of applications, positive decisions, appeals, and other data relating to asylum seekers in the past three months.
The latest quarterly asylum statistics covering July to September 2006 show that applications are down 7% at 5,850 compared with 6,320 during the same period in 2005. Asylum applications for the whole year to date are also the lowest since 1993. The actual number of applications is up slightly on last quarter, and the number of removals of failed asylum seekers has decreased – probably because of a shift of resources away from failed asylum seekers and onto foreign national prisoners.
Despite Home Office efforts to improve the standard of decision-making, there were still some amazing figures which indicate that there are still major issues with initial decisions by caseworkers. About a fifth of appealed cases were successful – which is a significant number in itself. However, for appeals by certain nationalities the appeal rate rises to 44% for Eritreans and 41% for Somalis – which means that in these a poor initial decision is being made only just under half of the time.
Home Office quarterly asylum statistics
And finally...
A few Parliamentary Questions are worth flagging up:
31 October – 14 November
Parliament prorogued
The current parliamentary session came to an end last week, and Parliament is now officially ‘prorogued’.
Prorogation usually takes the form of an announcement on behalf of the Queen made in the House of Lords. The prorogation announcement sets out the major bills which have been passed during that parliamentary session and also describes other measures which have been taken by the Government. Prorogation brings to an end nearly all parliamentary business.
A number of bills scraped onto the statute book by the skin of their papyrus – including the Police and Justice Bill that contains one provision of interest to us.
The Government had proposed that all the Inspectorates for Prisons, Probation etc. be merged into one super inspectorate. This had concerned some peers who rejected the measure – they were concerned that the independence and effectiveness of the inspectorates would be reduced.
And since the reports of the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, into detention centres have been hard-hitting, this was of concern to those in the refugee sector.
After the Lords rejected the Government’s proposals the Home Office performed a big U-turn and have instead retained the separate inspectorates and encouraged them to work together more closely instead. Which is good news to end the parliamentary session with, all in all.
Queen's speech this week
The new parliamentary session will begin on Wednesday (15th November) and the Government will introduce a whole new raft of legislation – and the Queen actually turns up for this one! The event is televised and broadcast worldwide, so if you want to know what’s going to happen in the next parliamentary year, or just like a bit of pomp and pageantry, tune in on Wednesday.
There are two bills in the Queen’s Speech likely to be of particular interest. We are expecting an immigration bill, mentioned by the Prime Minister in his party conference speech. The bill is likely to focus on immigration rather than asylum, but there are always a few asylum provisions slipped into an immigration bill so we’ll be keeping an eye on it! There is also likely to be a new terrorism bill – which may contain provisions that affect refugees and asylum seekers.
Trickle or flood: how many asylum seekers does the UK protect?
One of the greatest difficulties that we face in our work advocating on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers is that the issues of immigration and asylum get conflated. If you don’t already know the difference then you can find out here.
And one of the greatest fears people have about both asylum seekers and immigrants is a feeling that there are a lot of them! But the numbers are not necessarily linked – at the moment for example the number of economic migrants is quite high while asylum numbers have been dropping dramatically.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics out last week showed that the UK population was boosted by 500 people a day in 2005, largely due to immigration. This equates to about half a million a year. But of that number, asylum seekers only represented a net-inflow of 11,000 over the year, down from 80,000 in 2000. So asylum seekers are not ‘flooding’ in – far from it, the numbers are much lower than they have been.
But this is no cause for celebration – low asylum applications in the UK do not necessarily mean there are fewer people needing protection. In fact, there is a concern that we have tightened up border controls to such a degree that some people who need sanctuary are not able to get here to claim it.
The key fact to remember when people complain about how many asylum seekers we support as a country is that we are the fourth richest country in the world and gave a few thousand people protection last year. But it is countries in the developing world who support two-thirds of the world’s refugees. Tanzania, for example, has taken in 600,000 refugees in recent years, despite being one of the world’s poorest countries.
If numbers are your thing, you can always find the latest stats at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate website.
Office of National Statistics
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Conservatives publish immigration policy paper
Defying the jibes that they are all spin and no substance, the Conservatives have actually published a policy! It is their first immigration policy paper since David Cameron became leader.
The paper is an interesting read but does not deal with asylum at all – which is good. In fact, they make explicit that they want to keep asylum separate from immigration. Asylum will be dealt with in a later paper. This acknowledgement that asylum is different from immigration is enormous progress.
The paper rules out the idea of an amnesty because they believe it acts as a pull factor encouraging new illegal entrants.
Conservative Party
And finally:
A few of the PQs are worth flagging up:
18 – 30 October
Independent asylum commission launched
Whoever you talk to about the UK asylum system, pretty much everyone agrees that it is a problem. Those working with refugees and asylum seekers can tell you of many injustices in the system while opinion polls show that just 4% of the public believe that the government has control of the asylum and immigration system.
There have been calls for an independent review of the asylum system for many years, and now we have one! The Independent Asylum Commission was launched in the House of Commons on 18th October in front of an audience of MPs, journalists and representatives of the refugee sector.
The Commission is completely independent, will conduct a nationwide review of the UK asylum process over eighteen months, and is due to publish a report suggesting credible reforms to the system in time to influence the manifestos for the next general election. The Commission will operate via three methods: public hearings around the country; a general call for written evidence; and original research.
The Commission was created in response to a recommendation in the South London Citizens’ Lunar House Report which was published last year (you can read it here).
See also: Lunar House Report (PDF only)
The Commission is to be co-chaired by Sir John Waite (a former judge and chair of UNICEF) and Ifath Nawaz (President of the Association of Muslim Lawyers) and is due to begin the process of public hearings in January.The Commission is looking to engage public opinion as well as the experts, so watch this space for details of how you can be involved.
FT poll finds most Britons hostile to immigration
One of the problems that the Independent Asylum Commission is going to have to engage with is public misperceptions about asylum and immigration. Many people fail to distinguish between asylum seekers and immigrants, for instance, and this has a huge impact on how asylum seekers are perceived.
I’m sure you’ve been in a conversation when the “they take all our jobs/houses/benefits” line is used. Well, there is a handy little guide to help people know the difference called ‘Tell it like it is – The Truth about Asylum” which you can download from the Refugee Council website.
Depressingly, a new opinion poll for the Financial Times has suggested that 76 per cent of Britons think there are too many immigrants in their country - the highest proportion of any big western European country included in the poll. Britons are also more likely than people in France, Germany, Italy and Spain to believe migrants have had a negative impact on their country's economy. Some 46 per cent said immigrants in general had a negative impact.
This just goes to show the extent to which political rhetoric and biased reporting by the media has fuelled public fears – and because people often conflate asylum and immigration, this becomes a problem for asylum seekers too. This is something we highlighted in our Don’t Believe the Type campaign – if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth checking out.
Financial Times: Britons oppose open door to EU member states
Refugee Council: Tell it like it is
Home Office ministers on refugee integration and Scotland
There are two Ministers with direct, day-to-day responsibility for asylum and refugee issues: Liam Byrne MP, Minister of State, and Joan Ryan MP who is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary. They have both been busy recently, with Liam Byrne in dialogue with Jack McConnell, Scotland’s First Minister, about the welfare of families during removals, while Joan Ryan has announced a consultation on refugee integration.
Late in 2005 there was a lot of campaigning activity in Scotland against dawn raids and the removal of kids directly from schools. There was considerable lobbying of Scotland’s First Minister, Jack McConnell, who was put under a lot of pressure to do something about it. Just shows you the power of political pressure from campaigners and communities…
He met with Tony McNulty MP, then the UK Immigration Minister, in March 2006. McConnell had floated the idea of having a special protocol for family removals in Scotland but McNulty agreed to a UK-wide review of the protocol. Now Liam Byrne, McNulty’s successor, has met with Jack McConnell and Scottish MPs to discuss “the best balance between enforcing immigration court decisions and children and families’ welfare”. Byrne announced that the review into family removals will be published soon, so keep an eye out for that.
Meanwhile Joan Ryan, who has responsibility for refugee integration, has launched a consultation on the future of refugee integration services in the UK, and has also announced the winding up of the National Refugee Integration Forum.
Home Office press release: Home Office Minister Visits Scotland
Guardian: Teachers and GPs allowed to intervene over deportations
Hansard: Joan Ryan on Refugee Integration
Home Office Consultation Paper: A New Model for National Refugee Integration Services in England (PDF only)
And finally...
A few Parliamentary Questions are worth flagging up.
Lord Ouseley asks whether ‘asylum seeker’ detention centres receive penalty fines following the suicides of detainees here;
Harry Cohen asks whether the Home Department plans to implement HM Inspector of Prisons’ recommendations regarding Yarl’s Wood here;
Martin Linton asks about the average time it takes to reach an initial decision on asylum applications here.
03 October – 17 October
Conservative Party Conference
The weather held fair (but chilly!) for the Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth. What was even more amazing then the sunshine was that the fringe listing was dominated not by immigration, Europe or even crime – but by climate change and the environment!
Despite the sunny weather and David Cameron’s call to “let sunshine win the day!”, there was a mood of rebellion amongst many delegates. Not because of the stance of the leader or the arrival of ‘smoothie stalls’ at every corner, but because there was a major disaster with the Conference security passes which left many delegates out in the cold – quite literally!
The Refugee Council did host a very successful policy breakfast with Damian Green MP, the Immigration spokesman, Dame Pauline Neville Jones, chair of the Conservative Security Policy Commission, Richard Benyon MP and Bernard Jenkin MP, amongst others. It was a very positive discussion and will help to shape a “civilised and credible” Conservative policy on asylum ahead of the next election.
We were also delighted to have Victoria Araj, a BBC youth panellist, attending the meeting. Victoria wrote a review of her experiences in Bournemouth which is very interesting in itself, but also includes a reference to our breakfast.
BBC: Youth Panellist Reflects on Conservative Party Conference
Parliament back in session
After three months working in their constituencies, MPs returned to Parliament on October 9th. While we wait for the immigration and asylum bill that will be announced in the Queen’s Speech (due in a few weeks) and introduced into Parliament in the Spring, some of the MPs interested in asylum have been busy laying Parliamentary Questions.
Parliamentary Questions, or PQs for short, can be addressed to the Secretary of State for any Government Department and will then be answered by the relevant Minister. They are an excellent mechanism for extracting information from the Government and often bring interesting nuggets of information into the public sphere.
For example, a recent PQ revealed that the average cost of processing an asylum claim was £3,050. Another showed that the cost of detaining an asylum seeker is £1,230 per week! More worryingly, another PQ highlighted the fact that 49 detainees had needed treatment after self-harming between January and June this year.
If you are interested, you can catch up on all the latest PQs yourself or track your MP’s voting record at www.theyworkforyou.com.
Hansard: The cost of processing asylum applications
Hansard: The cost of holding failed asylum seekers at immigration centres
Hansard: Suicide attempts amongst asylum seekers
MP and PQ Tracking Website: www.theyworkforyou.com
19 September – 02 October
Liberal Democrats
It seems like months ago now, but it is only a few weeks since the Lib Dems headed off to sunny Brighton for their Conference. Despite looking a bit shaky at the start of the week, Sir Ming Campbell managed to convince delegates to back his new tax reforms. Bizarrely, the biggest story of the week was that ex-leader Charles Kennedy declined to shake hands with the new leader – which tells you a lot about the priorities of the press at party conferences!
If only they’d known that there was something much more exciting going on! The Refugee Council, Amnesty International and UNHCR hosted a successful fringe meeting which attracted over 30 delegates to consider the important question: UK Refugee and Asylum Policy: Fit for Purpose?, chaired by the Refugee Council’s own Anna Reisenberger.
Baroness (Shirley) Williams of Crosby led a robust criticism of the UK’s asylum system, demonstrating that it had failed to offer protection to many of those fleeing persecution. Bemma Donkoh, the UN refugee agency’s UK representative offered an international perspective whilst Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International, criticised the Government for a complete lack of political leadership on the issue of asylum.
And Harris Nyatsanza, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker and former hunger-striker, travelled all the way up from Cardiff to give his shocking testimony of how the system failed him.
It was a really successful meeting with real engagement by the speakers and the audience – just a shame there were no journalists there to record something a bit more newsworthy than the absence of a handshake!
Labour
Labour Party Conference was dominated by Tony Blair’s swansong, speculation over if and when Gordon Brown would take over, and what exactly Mrs Blair said under her breath during Mr Brown’s keynote speech!
The Refugee Council helped organise a fringe meeting with Save the Children as part of the No Place for a Child – Stop Detaining Children Now! campaign. Tim Finch, Director of Communications at the Refugee Council chaired the meeting. Lord Dubs and Jasmine Whitbread of Save the Children made the case for an end to detention and the piloting of alternative solutions. Liam Byrne MP, the Immigration Minister, agreed to assess alternative systems. We look forward to the outcome of that assessment with great interest.
The Refugee Charities Reception was organised jointly by the Refugee Council, Amnesty International and UNHCR. It was attended by over 60 MPs, conference delegates, and representatives from the refugee and voluntary sectory in the North-west. Liam Byrne MP also attended and praised the contribution of charities to society.
The show was stolen by Zeela, a choir of Liberian refugee women now living in Sheffield. They treated the audience to a selection of traditional Liberian songs and practically lifted the roof off the Friends’ Meeting House where the event was held! The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (and Tony Blair’s old flatmate), Lord Falconer, was the keynote speaker at an event in an adjoining room and had his speech completely drowned out by the singing! The reaction to the event was very positive, with politicians (except perhaps Lord Falconer) and refugees alike clearly enjoying having such a different fringe experience.
One other theme to emerge from the Conference was that the Ministers at the Home Office are now much more focused on immigration than asylum. This was evident in the mention of the forthcoming Immigration Bill (due in the Spring and likely to contain some asylum measures) as “the centrepiece of the next Parliamentary session” in Tony Blair’s speech. The PM intends to make security the centrepiece of the next legislative programme, with measures to manage migration, to tackle organised crime and anti-social behaviour.
In a speech to Conference widely interpreted as proving his credentials as a possible leadership challenger to Gordon Brown, Home Secretary John Reid MP referred to ensuring fairness in the asylum system:
“It isn't fair when desperate people fleeing persecution who need asylum are put at risk because criminal gangs abuse an antiquated asylum system.”
Reid also hit back at his critics, such as former Deputy Labour Leader Roy Hattersley:
“Until Roy Hattersley said he would shoot himself if I became prime minister, I had not been able to see any possible advantage in standing."
See also:
No Place for a Child campaign
BBC: Tony Blair’s Speech
BBC: John Reid’s Speech
All images © Refugee Council
05 – 18 September
We have reached that time in the political calendar when politicians put aside their ambitions and petty rivalries for a show of unity at their annual party conferences. Our man at the Conferences keeps you informed of events as the nation’s political elite head to traditional holiday resorts, Brighton, Bournemouth and… errr… Manchester?!
Liberal democrats
Every conference has a dominant issue that everyone is talking about - and it tends not to be the one the leadership of the party wants discussed! This year the Lib Dems are in Brighton and will be wondering whether Sir Menzies (Ming) Campbell was really the best replacement for Charles Kennedy. Sir Ming faces a tough ride as he tries to make changes to key policies such as tax reform.
As far as our presence in Brighton goes, Anna Reisenberger (Refugee Council) will be chairing a panel discussion. In the midst of Home Office reforms and with the issue high on the agenda once again, Baroness Shirley Williams, Bemma Donkoh (UNHCR – the UN refugee agency) and Kate Allen (Amnesty International) will be asking: UK Refugee and Asylum Policy: Fit for Purpose? Harris Nyatsanza, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker and former hunger-striker will share his experiences too.
The event is on Tuesday 19th September at 13:00-14:30 in the Noblesse Room, Thistle Hotel. This venue is outside the conference secure zone so you don’t need a conference pass to get in – members of the public and interested punters most welcome. And for those of you with conference passes, it is a very short walk away and definitely worth the exercise! Refreshments provided.
Liberal Democrats Annual Conference website
Labour
Labour Party Conference is in Manchester this year. The feud between supporters of Tony and Gordon seems to have died down a bit now that the PM has promised to be gone by this time next year. Still, there’s no doubt that once again, everyone’s going to be talking about Gordon and Tony or Tony and Gordon (depending on your perspective).
For those of you who like a bit of policy substance, come along to the No Place for a Child fringe meeting on Monday 25th September between 17:00 and 18:00 in the Mechanics Institute Conference Centre, 103 Princess St. This is an opportunity to hear the latest from the campaign to end the detention of children for immigration purposes and pick up a copy of the report into alternatives written by three senior Parliamentarians. Lord Dubs will outline why we should stop detaining children and Immigration Minister Liam Byrne MP has agreed to respond. This event is outside the secure zone but within easy walking distance.
And having absorbed the debate you’ll probably be in the mood to eat, drink and be entertained. So come straight over to the Refugee Charities Reception (25th September). It kicks off from 17:30 but the real entertainment will start after 18:00. It is at the Friends Meeting House, Mount St – just around the corner from the No Place fringe venue and from the secure zone. Zeela – a choir of Liberian refugees – have been invited to perform some of their repertoire after wowing the audience at the launch of Refugee Week. The new Minister for Immigration, Liam Byrne MP will speak alongside Bemma Donkoh – the UK Representative for UNHCR (the UN refugee agency), Kate Allen (Amnesty International) and Maeve Sherlock (Refugee Council). The event is being hosted jointly by the Refugee Council, UNHCR and Amnesty International. Refreshments and wholesome Somali food will be available – not the predictable vol-au-vents and salmon on crackers canapés that you normally get at conference!
Even if you can’t get to the events, I’ll let you know what happens in the next review.
Labour Annual Party Conference website
No Place for a Child campaign
Conservatives
This will be David Cameron’s first conference as leader – and the first chance for party members to reflect on his leadership en masse since he won the leadership contest last year.
We are not running a public event at Conservative Party Conference – not out of spite, but because we have found that running a fringe for the Conservatives is not the most effective form of engaging – last year only three people turned up!
But we are meeting with shadow ministers, MPs and members of the Security Policy Commission for a private policy breakfast.
If you are a Conservative activist and a supporter of the Refugee Council we’d love to hear from you so do get in touch with our campaigns department on 020 7346 6712 or 020 7346 1208.
Conservative Party Annual Conference website
21 August – 04 September
There is still over a month before MPs return to Parliament and so the ‘Westminster Village’ is pretty quiet at the moment. In their absence the political classes are worrying about the latest terrorist threat, obsessing about the number of immigrants in the UK, lamenting the record A-level results, and reflecting on more trouble in the Middle-east. Nothing ever changes…
But there were three political developments of concern to those interested in asylum and refugee issues.
Asylum statistics show asylum seekers are rarer than Gillingham fans
The Home Office quarterly asylum figures released recently showed a further fall in asylum applications.
Applications fell by 15 per cent to 5,490 between April and June this year, compared with 6,455 in the first quarter. They are now at their lowest level since 1993 – so don’t let anyone tell you we are being swamped! In fact, more people go to see Gillingham play football in League One on a regular basis than there were asylum claims last quarter. No offence to Gillingham fans, but there aren’t very many of you! And when you spread those 5,490 asylum seekers across the whole of the UK you realise just how small the number is. If you spread Gillingham’s fans evenly across the UK then they would be spread pretty thinly indeed. You’d only find one fan per sixteen square miles!
And remember that the vast majority of asylum seekers are not granted refugee status. The figures showed that only 20% of the asylum claims decided in the last quarter allowed the asylum seeker to stay in the UK. That means that between April and June only 1,005 asylum seekers were allowed to stay in the UK. Another fact to remember is that Tanzania, one of the poorest nations on earth, has given protection to over 400,000 refugees in the past few years.
Worth thinking about…
Quarterly Asylum Statistics from the Home Office
Home Office press release
Conservatives call for inquiry into self-harm at detention centre
Meanwhile, the Tories have continued to move towards their target of a “civilised and credible” asylum policy. They are currently taking evidence from external organisations to shape their immigration and asylum policy for the next election.
They called for an independent inquiry into conditions at a detention centre after it emerged that 49 detainees had received medical treatment for self-harm in the first half of this year.
Guardian: Tories call for detention centre inquiry
Conservative Security Commission: Our Security Challenge
Commission for Integration and Cohesion launched
Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly launched the new Commission on Integration and Cohesion, calling for a “new honest debate” on immigration. The Commission is intended to “consider innovative approaches looking at how communities across the country can be empowered to improve cohesion and tackle extremism" and will now begin a programme of consultation and public meetings and events across the UK, aiming to make recommendations to government in June 2007.
Ruth Kelly welcomed diversity, but said: "We have moved from a period of near uniform consensus on the value of multiculturalism to one where we can encourage that debate by questioning whether it is encouraging separateness."
Meanwhile Claude Moraes, an Asian member of the European Parliament, has criticised airport officials for repeatedly treating him as a suspect terrorist. Writing in the left wing weekly Tribune, the London Labour MEP warns against using the "blunt instrument of ethnic profiling" in an effort to increase security.
BBC: Ruth Kelly’s speech in full
Dept for Communities and Local Government news release: New Commission on Integration and Cohesion
New provisions of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act come into force
The way our political system works, parliamentarians debate a new piece of legislation for about six months or so with great intensity (or not, depending on the nature of the new law) before finally giving it consent to become law. Then most of them forget pretty much all about it and focus on the next controversial piece of legislation or on knocking seven shades of stuffing out of each other at Prime Minister’s Questions.
What many people don’t realise is that often laws don’t come into force immediately. Different bits of the act will become effective at different times through secondary legislation. Secondary legislation is legislation made by Ministers under powers granted to them in Acts of Parliament, and prevents the need for an Act of Parliament every time a detail needs to be updated or added to. The Act can give the Government the power to do this at a later stage – and bring bits of the Act into effect at different times.
The powers themselves are called Statutory Instruments (SIs) and have the full force of law. About 3,000 Statutory Instruments are issued each year and are just as much a part of the law as the parent Act of Parliament (or primary legislation). There’s a fact to bore your friends with.
Anyway, earlier this year the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality (IAN) Act passed through Parliament and now the Minister has introduced a Statutory Instrument to bring a whole load of the sections of the Act into force.
Home Office: Press release
Office of Public Sector Information: Statutory Instrument
Refugee Council: Briefing on IAN Bill
