Asylum Bill - provisions
01 January 1991
Asylum Bill - provisions
bacdoc February=1992
The Asylum Bill was published on 1 November 1991.
The measures would strengthen safeguards for genuine refugees but
reduce the scope for others to misuse the asylum process. The
Asylum Bill is supported by new Immigration Rules and new Appeals
Procedure Rules. Together they would provide:
· a new right of appeal before removal for all applicants
refused asylum;
· a streamlined appeals procedure with strict time limits to
prevent unnecessary delays and ensure a quick hearing for
those who are detained or whose cases are clearly
unfounded;
· an additional right of appeal on a point of law to the
Court of Appeal;
· powers to cut short the stay of someone already in the
United Kingdom who claims, and is refused, asylum;
· powers to fingerprint asylum applicants, to stop the
growing number who claim asylum in more than one name; and
· a limit on the duty of local authorities in England, Wales
and Scotland under the homelessness legislation to find
permanent accommodation for asylum applicants while their
claims are considered.
The Bill would also enable visas to be required of nationals of
specified countries who intend to change planes at British
airports without passing through immigration control. Charges
could be levied on airlines under the Immigration (Carriers
Liability) Act 1987 where such transit passengers were carried
without visas. On 1 August the charge under the Act was raised
from Ãl,000 to Ã2,000.
The new Immigration Rules would specify what matters should be
taken into account in assessing the credibility of an asylum
applicant. These would include whether the applicant had:
· applied for asylum promptly on arrival;
· fully and honestly presented the facts of his case;
· destroyed his passport or other identification; and
· taken any opportunities to move to a safer part of his own
country or apply for asylum in another country he had
passed through on his way to the United Kingdom - asylum
applicants who fail to seek protection in the first safe
country they reach would normally be sent back to have
their claim dealt with there.
In addition, the following further measures are in hand:
· the number of staff working on asylum claims is to be
increased to over 550 by May 1992 to deal with the tenfold
rise in asylum applications since 1988. This will ensure
prompt decisions to protect genuine refugees and allow the
speedy refusal and removal of those without valid claims;
· nearly 300 new detention places are to be made available,
to detain asylum applicants considered likely to abscond if
allowed to remain at liberty, and to enable those refused
asylum to be detained while awaiting removal;
· new procedures will from today screen for identification
purposes all asylum applicants without valid passports or
identification, to prevent multiple asylum applications and
to reduce the scope for social security fraud; and
· document specialists are being provided at certain airports
abroad to advise carriers about the authenticity of travel
documents.
NOTES:
The staff in the Asylum Division of the Home Office will increase
from 120 to over 500 during a 12 month period.
The 1951 UN Convention on Refugees sets out the internationally
accepted definition of refugee status, namely a:
"If well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group
or political opinion."
Signatories to the Convention undertake not to return refugees
to countries where they face persecution. In practice an asylum
seeker steps to one side of normal immigration control, securing
protection from removal at least until his claim to refugee
status has been dete