20 September 2002
Nick Hardwick, the chief executive of the British Refugee Council, told Public Finance after he gave evidence to the Commons' home affairs select committee on September 17 that his organisation disagreed with the government's plans to build three centres in rural areas to house 750 asylum seekers each.
'We think they are too big and in the wrong place,' he said. 'We think the experience on the Continent shows that people there will become institutionalised. They will be incredibly expensive and you can already see the sorts of local opposition they have generated.
'The government has gone about it the wrong way. First of all they should ask what process asylum seekers should go through, and then what facilities do we need for that to take place? The accommodation centres are like the Dome of the government's asylum policy – you've got this wonderful structure and then you work out what you're going to put in it.'
Blunkett told the committee on September 18 that he was having discussions with the Refugee Council. But he insisted that economies of scale meant that smaller buildings in urban areas were not preferable to his department's current plans. 'I don't see why it is the most disadvantaged areas of the country that have to take the additional pressure,' he added.
Hardwick also criticised the government for withdrawing asylum seekers' right to take up employment after six months in the country. 'It's much better if people pay their way rather than be dependent on charitable and state handouts. It's also good in terms of public perception that people are seen to be working.'
Blunkett defended the change in policy to the committee: 'It [the old policy] sent out all the wrong signals. At the moment people seek asylum as a route to economic migration and we want to discourage them.
'The problem is that the signal is very clear – if you get here and you stay here you can work. I have no sympathy whatsoever for young men in their 20s who do not go back home and rebuild their countries.'
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