The UK Home Secretary announced the details for a new plan for immigration for the first time in over two decades which has proposed a substantial reform of the current asylum claim and appeals system. The new immigration plan is said to be based on fairness and proposals aim to:
(a) prevent those who illegally enter the UK through a safe country, from selecting the UK as a preferred state for claiming asylum
(b) make removals easier by reducing the number of unmeritorious appeals and claims which are often last minute and aimed at delaying removal, and
(c) increase the overall fairness of the system.
Here are some of the key components of the proposal affecting asylum seeker.
Illegal entry
The Government to a large extent views the high number of people enter the UK illegally as the reason for the ‘unsustainable caseload’ and the delay in deciding asylum claims.
To tackle illegal entry and discourage asylum claims via illegal route, the Government proposes to:
i. Increase the maximum sentence for illegally entering the UK; and
ii. Introduce life sentences for those facilitating illegal entry.
To limit the number of illegal entries, the government also proposes to process asylum claims outside the UK by amending sections 77 and 78 of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.
The effect of illegal entry on asylum seekers
Those who enter the UK illegally when they could have claimed asylum in another safe country will not be able to claim asylum and face the risk of being returned to the latest safe country visited during their travels. Where such an individual cannot be removed from another country, they stand to have their asylum claim considered and be granted temporary status for a maximum of 30 months.
Those who enter illegally and cannot be removed from another country will be treated differently from those who enter legally. Illegal entrants will receive a new temporary protection status for a maximum of 30 months, after which they will be regularly reassessed for removal. They will also have limited family reunion rights and have no recourse to public funds unless faced with destitution.
The benefits of legal entry
Those who enter legally and are accepted as refugees will be granted immediate indefinite leave to remain so that they can benefit from full rights and entitlements.
Family reunion routes are set to be reviewed for the benefit of refugees who enter legally and their families and propose an expansion of the current rules to some extent. For example, the government will consider whether a family reunion can be possible for unmarried dependent children under the age of 21 (rather than just 18) to join their parents who are both refugees living in the UK.
Refugees will be able to benefit from flexible employment support arrangements created to help refugees progress their life in the UK more quickly. The support is expected to focus on language training/teaching, skills development and work placements to help refugees build their lives in the UK.
New Humanitarian Routes
The resettlement offered to legal entrants is said to be extended to a broader range of minority groups including Christians in some parts of the world, and those facing persecution and threats on the basis of their gender, religion or cultural belief. The idea is to offer discretionary assistance to those who are in their domestic country and face an exceptional and direct risk to life.
Reforms to the procedure for claiming asylum
The procedure for claiming asylum and challenging asylum refusals via appeal is proposed to change to minimise attempts to prevent removals, waste of court resources and facilitate the provision of justice for those with genuine claims. This will be done by introducing a ‘one-stop’ process requiring claims to be brought and considered in a single assessment. Whether this is a fair proposal is to be seen, as 43% of the appeals lodged between 2016 and 2018 were successful therefore suggesting a flaw in the Home Office asylum decision making.
Lowering of criminality threshold
To facilitate removals, it is proposed that the criminality threshold is reduced. Those who have been convicted and sentenced to at least 12 months’ imprisonment will be considered a danger to the community and have their refugee status revoked.
Age and asylum
To minimise the risk of adults posing as children, a robust approach to age assessment is to be introduced. This approach is to be based on new scientific methods targeted towards accurately assessing age.
