The numbers of people seeking asylum have increased across Europe in 2021-22 for a range of reasons including the war in Ukraine and events in Afghanistan. In the UK Recent news has been dominated by asylum issues ranging from the backlog in dealing with asylum claims, the increase in numbers arriving by boat to the appalling conditions in Manston. ( See here for the Home Affairs Committee session at which the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration revealed that he was “left speechless” by “wretched” conditions and overcrowding at that facility.) After sustained campaigning Manston is now empty but the asylum system is in chaos. These problems have largely been caused by years of poor management and recklessly pursuing the policy of a hostile environment. It is easy to feel the situation is hopeless and nothing can be done. But Lib Dems have policies which could have helped prevent these issues arising. Our proposals (many of which can be found on this website under Policies tab) include a more efficient and fairer way of making decisions, and supporting the right of asylum seekers to work after 3 months. A couple of years ago Conference agreed a policy on providing humanitarian visas and we have also supported the introduction of safe and legal routes into the UK. We need to talking about what can be done rather than bemoaning the problems. Parliamentarians, local councillors and those in a position to influence need to make sure our policies are part of the public discussion. More work does need to be done on some of these policies particularly mapping out how safe and legal routes would actually work in practice and how the Home Office can get through the current backlog of decisions without compromising on fairness or reducing still further quality. It is frustrating that none of these proposals have been implemented by the government which is now facing a mess it has manufactured. But it is tragic for asylum seekers who are risking their lives to come here because there are no safe routes and then when they get here housed in inhumane conditions where they are also at risk of infections and possibly death (on 19 November an individual who was being processed at Manston was taken ill and died in hospital).
Linton-on-Ouse Accommodation centre
The Home Office has officially confirmed that plans for an accommodation centre at Linton-on-Ouse will not go ahead.
Campaign resources and briefing materials
To help build momentum against any other move towards warehousing people in camps, Asylum Matters has produced a set of unbranded resources (twitter banners, logos, illustrations, Facebook cover images) that call for #CommunitiesNotCamps. The resources can be accessed in this folder for download / use with your own tweets and social posts – please make use of them! You are also welcome to retweet Asylum Matters here.
Refugee Council briefing on separated children in hotels
The Refugee Council has produced this parliamentary briefing on the situation of separated children in hotels in South East England, which are placing children under 16 in unregulated settings and without Local Authorities being involved in providing services to them.
New IPPR report: Understanding the rise in Channel crossings
IPPR has launched a briefing paper,
Migration Observatory Briefing on Immigration Detention
The Migration Observatory has produced a new briefing on immigration detention in the UK.
Changes to indefinite leave to remain
As part of the changes of the Nationality & Borders Act 2022 for people who made a protection claim on or after 28 June 2022 the type and length of leave granted on a successful application will depend on several factors including the type of protection awarded and whether the Home Office determines individuals to be “Group 1 or Group 2 refugees. Free Movement has summarised some of the key issues in its weekly newsletter of 21 November 2022. When we understand the complexities LD4SoS will produce a briefing on the changes.