More children will face deportation under Labour’s plan to crack down on asylum seekers, the Home Office has announced.
Families – including children – of failed asylum seekers will be offered financial support so they can return to their home country, the government has said.
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If they refuse that support, they will be forced to leave through deportation, according to the new policy, branded “restoring order and control”.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the “world has changed and our asylum system has not changed with it”, as she said 400,000 people have sought asylum in the last four years, with half of refugees remaining on benefits eight years after arriving.
She said the system feels “out of control and unfair” to the British public who foot the bill – and said the UK’s asylum offer is much more generous compared with “many of our European neighbours”.
The new plan says the asylum system currently does not prioritise the return of families, which means many families of failed asylum seekers continue to live in the UK “receiving free accommodation and financial support, for years on end”.
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“Our hesitancy around returning families creates particularly perverse incentives,” the Home Office plan says.
It says asylum seekers are currently able to “exploit the fact that they have had children and put down roots in order to thwart removal”.
This includes about 700 Albanian families whose asylum claims have been rejected, but their removal is not being enforced because they have children.
The Home Office will launch a consultation on how it can deport families, including children.
Currently, families with children under the age of 18 at the point they are refused asylum continue to receive government support until the youngest child turns 18 – even if all appeals routes have been exhausted and they are refusing to be returned.
Also announced in the plan:
Temporary refugee status
Refugee status will be made temporary and a review will take place every two and a half years, with renewal only happening if returning to their home country is not possible.
Status could be revoked if a refugees home country is deemed safe.
The current five years to gain permanent settled status for refugees will be quadrupled to 20 years, but they could gain indefinite leave to remain sooner by working or studying.
This would replace the “golden ticket” five year deal, the government said.
There will be a consultation to see if benefits can be removed from refugees who are able to work but choose not to.
European Court of Human Rights
Ms Mahmood said the government would change how UK courts interpret the ECHR so they can deport more foreign criminals and migrants who arrive illegally.
The government said Article 8 of the ECHR (the right to a family life) is being misused by migrants to delay their removal from the UK, with new legislation to make clear a family connection means only immediate family – a parent or child.
This could stop people from “using dubious connections to stay in the UK”, they said.
Article 8 rights will only be used in the most “exceptional circumstances” and will tighten where Article 8 claims can be lodged, so all claims are heard first by the Home Office and not in a court.
The UK will also work with other European countries to review the application of Article 3 (prohibition of torture) as the government said the “definition of ‘inhuman and degrading treatment’ has expanded beyond what is reasonable”.
Ms Mahmood said the government wants to remain in the ECHR, but wants to reform it – while Reform and the Conservatives are calling to leave it entirely.
Visa bans
Ms Mahmood said the government has threatened visa bans on Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia unless they accept the return of illegal migrants and criminals from those countries.
Penalties could result in “VIPs and tourists alike” being blocked from entering the UK unless countries with visa bans take action.
Safe and legal routes
New safe and legal routes for refugees will be established “once the government has restored control of Britain’s borders”, the Home Office said.
Three routes will be established for refugees: a study route for displaced students, a skilled worker route and a named sponsorship route run by voluntary organisations.
A cap on how many of these visas will be granted will be determined by the home secretary.
Ms Mahmood added the UK “will always remain flexible to new crises across the world as they happen”.
