The government has failed to show the “necessary toughness” to enforce the removal of families whose asylum claims have been refused, Shabana Mahmood has claimed.
In a policy document published on Monday as the government sets out plans for the biggest shake-up of asylum laws in 40 years, the home secretary also set out plans to consult on measures to allow the removal of financial support for families with children under the age of 18 if they have been refused asylum.
The moves will further enrage some refugee organisations and Labour MPs who are threatening to rebel against Keir Starmer’s government.
According to the document, “many families of failed asylum seekers continue to live in this country, receiving free accommodation and financial support, for years on end”.
“The government will offer all families financial support to enable them to return to their home country. Should they refuse that support, we will escalate to an enforced return. We will launch a consultation on the process for enforcing the removal of families, including children,” the document said.
“As part of the aforementioned consultation, we will consult on commencing measures in the 2016 Immigration Act which will allow us to remove support from families who do not have a genuine obstacle to leaving the country,” the report said.
It added: “When an asylum seeker has failed in their claim, we will take a far more hard-headed approach to removing them. We will remove people we have not removed before, including families who have a safe home country they can return to.”
The government also plans to trial incentive payments of thousands of pounds to encourage asylum seekers to leave the UK if their claims are rejected. At present, claimants are given up to £3,000 to remove themselves from the UK.
“Depending on individual circumstances, financial packages will continue to be available at any stage in the process. This is the most cost-effective approach for UK taxpayers and we will encourage people to take up these opportunities, including by trialling increased incentive payments. Enforced removal will be pursued where they refuse to engage,” the report said.
More details soon …
