Why Wait?: Let’s Save Money and Enable Refugees to Help Themselves

The current asylum system in the UK is broken, which is something everybody agrees on. We propose that people currently seeking asylum in the UK from Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Eritrea, and Sudan be given refugee status immediately, following a simple nationality and security check, so that they can work and start rebuilding their lives while the taxpayer is no longer forced to foot the bill for a broken system.

These countries have such high success rates¹ it is not necessary to spend caseworker time and effort processing the inevitable.

The Home Office currently assesses it appropriate to omit personal interviews from nationals of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Yemen² . It also offers questionnaires to claimants from Iran and Iraq³ in an effort to reduce the length of any subsequent interviews.

Total number of people waiting for an initial decision from these countries is 54,341 (June 2023 ⁴) out of a total number of 134,046.

This plan would then allow the government to rebuild and transform the system without the current pressures – a win-win-win for citizens, the government, and refugees.

Successful applicants would immediately be granted refugee status⁵, meaning that they would receive:

• an initial period of five years’ permission to stay, after which they can apply for permanent settlement;
• immediate and unrestricted access to the labour market;
• recourse to public funds;
• full access to family reunion for their family members;
• the opportunity to apply for a refugee integration loan;
• and no requirement to demonstrate a knowledge of language and life in the UK when applying for settlement

We further propose that successful applicants continue to have Section 95 support for 90 days rather than the standard 28 days⁶ to help with the transition into work and independence.

This would

• Stop the costs incurred by housing people in hotels and paying their food allowances; latest figures suggest this is £6.8m per day⁷.
• “Clear the backlog” so the Home Office can reorganise and start implementing the policies they want more effectively, which aligns with commitments made by Rishi Sunak to clear the asylum backlog by the end of 2023⁸
• Help with the worker shortages, by allowing people who want to work access to the labour market. Figures in November 2022 suggest there are 1.19m vacancies in the UK including 208k in human health and social work sectors⁹.

Notes

• Other countries have implemented regularisation programmes. They are common policy responses in European Union countries and around the world, and have had positive outcomes.
• This doesn’t ask the government to change their policy, allowing them to still “take control of borders” etc, it’s just a better approach to the same end-goal of clearing the backlog – a backlog they have created, as numbers themselves are not at historic highs yet the backlog is.
• We have decided not to use the term “Amnesty” because of its association with criminal behaviour.
• We need to be aware of how to support people initially, as they will take a while to get their own accommodation, work etc. Currently support stops after 28 days, we are proposing tripling this to 90 days. While this will add costs in the short-run, it will save costs in the long term because people will pay for themselves through employment rather than end up requiring housing or other benefits.
• We support extending this scheme to as many countries as possible.

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-june-2023
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/streamlined-asylum-processing
3. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/16/home-office-to-fast-track-thousands-of-iraqi-and-iranian-asylum-claims
4. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-june-2023
5. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/permission-to-stay-on-a-protection-route-caseworker-guidance/permission-to-stay-on-a-protection-route-for-asylum-claims-lodged-on-or-after-28-june-2022-accessible#permission-to-stay-on-a-protection-route
6. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ceasing-asylum-support-instruction/ceasing-section-95-support-instruction-accessible
7. https://fullfact.org/immigration/hotel-accommodation-asylum-seeker-cost/
8. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/13/rishi-sunak-tells-mps-clear-asylum-backlog-end-of-2023
9. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2023-0001/