Asylum Bill (1)
01 May 1992
The new Conservative government is set to re-introduce the Asylum Bill (see Statewatch Vol 2 no 1) as soon as possible after abandoning it through lack of time at the end of the last parliament. Although Kenneth Baker has been replaced as Home Secretary by Kenneth Clarke, the Bill is not expected to be significantly liberalised. Both John Major and Douglas Hurd made the control of "bogus" refugees an issue in the general election campaign - and the issue was taken up by the tabloid press, whose headlines declared that a Labour government would flood the country with "cheating immigrants". The government is to push through such measures as the fingerprinting of all asylum-seekers and tougher criteria and procedures for the recognition of refugees.
Recent changes have already made life much worse for asylum- seekers. In November 1991 a new screening procedure was introduced, involving an interview by a junior official on identity and mode of entry to Britain. If it appears from the interview that the asylum-seeker travelled through a "safe" European country to get to Britain, he or she can be detained at the end of the interview and returned to that country.
The object of the interview, for the asylum-seeker, is to be given a Standard Acknowledgment Letter (SAL), issued on passport- type paper, bearing the photograph, name, nationality and date of birth of the asylum-seeker. This document acts as proof that the asylum-seeker is known to the Home Office and is awaiting a decision on his or her claim. It is only issued if the Home Office is sure of the identity of the asylum-seeker. Increasingly, DSS offices demand the SAL as proof of identity before granting benefit to asylum-seekers - and since it can take several weeks to get the SAL interview, asylum-seekers are having to wait for many weeks, sometimes months, before receiving any benefits. This is an identity card system being introduced 'through the back door', without any parliamentary debate.
Asylum figures
The number of asylum-seekers recognised as refugees, or allowed to stay in the country exceptionally, declined dramatically between 1990 and 1991, according to figures given by Immigration Minister Peter Lloyd in parliament in February. In the quarter from July to September 1991, only 75 people were granted asylum, and 120 exceptional leave, compared with 200 and 565 respectively in the same quarter of 1990. The total of asylum-seekers in 1991 was 44,745, but the backlog in processing applications is such that in September 1991 there were 59,300 applications outstanding.
Commons Hansard 24.2.92 cols 383-385; 28.2.92 cols 630-634.