News Beat
Government asylum shake-up: York and North Yorks MPs react
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said the current asylum system is “out of control and unfair” as she announced the reforms aimed at deterring illegal migration to the UK.
Ms Mahmood set out tougher plans to overhaul asylum policy to MPs on Monday (November 17), including to make it easier to remove people with no right to be in the country.
York Central MP Rachael Maskell said she supports the government’s “ambition to optimise the opportunity for people to make a contribution when they come to the UK”.
But Ms Maskell said the proposals for refugees to spend 20 years in the UK before being allowed to apply for settled status, up from five years, would “escalate anxiety, rather than help community cohesion and integration that a more secure policy could provide”.
Ms Maskell said the immigration system “must uphold the human rights and responsibilities of people fleeing persecution while investing in our communities so that no one is left behind”.
“I urge caution to government over many of its proposals, not least as a representative of a UN recognised Human Rights City,” said the MP, who had the Labour whip restored earlier this month.
“We must not see a watering down of established human rights and responsibilities, and the language of division must stop.
“Communities that work hard together to celebrate their diversity are stronger, more resilient, and richer.”
The government plans also include cutting the time refugees are initially granted to stay in the UK, from five years to a 30-month “core protection” system, which can only be renewed if it is not safe for them to return.
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There would be no automatic right to family reunion for refugees under core protection under the proposals.
Housing and weekly allowances would no longer be guaranteed for asylum seekers, and those who can work or have assets will have to contribute to their costs in the UK.
Families with children could also be subject to enforced returns under measures to remove failed asylum seekers, and the government is launching a consultation on how that should be done.
York Outer MP Luke Charters said the proposals will “redefine safe and legal routes, ensure that asylum seekers with the financial means to cover accommodation costs can do so, and introduce new special considerations for vulnerable groups”.
“Over the past year, it has become clear that reforming our immigration system is not only a priority for the public, it is also vital for refugees and asylum seekers themselves,” the Labour MP said.
“I have argued for closing asylum hotels because they serve nobody’s interests: not refugee children and their families living in poor conditions, not the communities where tensions can arise, and not the taxpayers who rightly see these as poor value for money.
“The changes announced will redefine safe and legal routes, ensure that asylum seekers with the financial means to cover accommodation costs can do so, and introduce new special considerations for vulnerable groups.”
Meanwhile, Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake said the asylum system needs a “fundamental reset, not more tinkering around the edges”.
“The government’s announcements are a step in the right direction – baby steps, but positive nonetheless,” the Conservative MP said.
“But already Labour MPs like Rachel Maskell are lining up to oppose them. And as we’ve seen on welfare, Keir Starmer is simply too weak to stand up to his own backbenchers.”
