30 January 2004
The UK is not a 'soft touch' for asylum seekers, but there are systematic 'weaknesses' in government policy that need rectifying to restore public confidence in the system, MPs have reported.
A wide-ranging study of UK asylum by the Commons' all-party home affairs select committee, published on January 26, calls for more resources to be spent on tackling the use of illegal labour by unscrupulous businesses and better-targeted funding of asylum applications to speed up the process.
MPs on the committee propose greater 'front-loading' of the applications system, 'to put more resources into achieving fair and sustainable decisions [on asylum] at an earlier stage'.
Such a move would serve the interests of justice and eliminate many appeals, MPs believe. That should be followed by 'swift action' to effect removals once decisions have been reached.
MPs also suggest using cash gleaned under the new Proceeds of Crime Act, which collects monies raised by illegal actions, to fund investigations into businesses using illegal labour.
But the committee broadly backs the government's approach to the sensitive issue, claiming that, contrary to popular belief, the UK is not a soft touch.
The report points out that 'as the system is tightened to tackle abuse, it will become more difficult for genuine asylum seekers to make claims in the UK'.
Parliament's joint committee on human rights, however, this week dismissed the government's flagship Asylum and Immigration Bill as 'inherently objectionable'.
In a report also published on January 26, the committee, made up of MPs and peers, said plans for a single immigration tribunal system of determining the suitability of applicants could violate the right of appeal and, possibly, the Human Rights Act.
Committee members also raised concerns over the Home Office's plan to refuse asylum instantly to applicants from 26 supposedly 'safe' countries.
'The presumption that a particular country is always safe for everyone is of questionable validity,' committee members argue.
But the Home Office said the Bill did not breach human rights. A spokesman said: 'Under our proposals, asylum seekers would continue to have access to appeal but not continuous, multi-layered appeals which can be used to frustrate removal.'
PFjan2004
