Immigration

Britain has a proud tradition of offering sanctuary to those who need our help. The principles of asylum were laid down in the 1951 Geneva Convention, which defines a refugee as a person outside his or her country, with a well-founded fear of persecution, who is unable to return home.

The guarantee we give for the protection of these individuals, as required by the Convention, is a long-standing and unwavering commitment. This can be seen in the Gateway Protection Programme, set up in 2004, which brings up to 750 particularly vulnerable refugees to the UK each year and provides them with 12 months of dedicated support towards integration. This includes English lessons, a dedicated case worker and access to health and education services. We enlist independent advice from the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to ensure we act in the refugees’ best interests.

We have enabled people from some of the most troubled parts of the world to rebuild their lives in the UK. However, the process of determining who genuinely needs our help is hampered by people trying to come here for purely economic reasons, drawn by the prospects of higher wages and better living conditions. It is crucial that we stop this type of abuse. Not only does it fly in the face of having a firm but fair asylum system, but it undercuts wages and takes jobs away from genuine British workers.

It is crucial that our system remains fair, with every asylum applicant given a proper hearing and the chance to have their case reviewed by an independent judge. Unfortunately, there are lawyers and certain groups that delay removals without justification, offering false hope. Criminal gangs benefit from this and genuine refugees are delayed. Too much money is being spent on those whose appeal rights have been exhausted. That is why we have proposed changes to the Asylum & Immigration tribunal system, to streamline the process, so we can conclude cases quicker than ever before.

These changes sit alongside the biggest shake-up of border security and the immigration system for a generation. We are tightening our borders and making sure that those with no right to be here can not enter Britain using fake documents and fraudulent methods. We are using the latest technology to count people in and out of the country; every visa applicant now has their details checked against watch-lists and our state of the art new e-Borders system screens passengers before they board flights. Within the UK we are introducing ID cards for foreign nationals to lock them to one identity. Those that have no right to be here, we expect to go home voluntarily, saving the taxpayer the £11,000 cost of an enforced removal.

It is important that we strike the right balance between protecting Britain’s borders and honouring our international responsibilities. The majority of those offered asylum integrate into their new communities and make a contribution to our country. However, we are tightening the net around those that try to abuse the system so that genuine refugees can quickly integrate into our communities – and those who are refused leave the UK.