Asylum Bill (5)
01 January 1991
Asylum Bill
artdoc June=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.
Statewatch, vol 2, no 3, May-June 1992