May 16, 2001. Copyright 2001. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

Asylum seekers set to top UK election controversy

LONDON, May 16, Graphic News: Asylum seekers and refugees are topping the UK election agenda after numbers rose dramatically in 1999 and 2000, sparking a heated debate between the main parties and pressure groups.

There were more than 76,000 asylum applications in 2000, representing almost 100,000 people, the highest ever number according to the latest issue of the Strategic Survey published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The trend for asylum applications which have been accepted stands at approximately 17% of the total. During 2000, some 24,000 applicants were granted refugee status, given leave to remain or permitted to stay on appeal. A further 10,000 ÒbacklogÓ applicants were allowed to stay on Òpragmatic grounds.Ó

Refugee agencies say there are thousands of applicants missing in the system because the Home Office does not properly collate the figures for eleventh hour approvals.

While the UK tops the European Union asylum league in terms of sheer numbers, applications have risen across the whole of the EU.

The UK received 99,905 applications in 2000; Germany, 78,764; the Netherlands, 43,892; Belgium, 38,072 and France, 34,992. 

Opponents of successive Conservative and Labour governments say that the real problem with asylum seekers is the way that the applications have been processed and the cost of the controversial voucher system. 

In January 1999 there was a backlog of 68,430 outstanding applications. A year later this stood at some 102,000. By last summer, 80% of asylum seekers were housed in London and south-east England.

For the past year, the government has hoped that its Asylum and Immigration Act would deal with all these problems in a Òfirmer, faster and fairerÓ way. The government diverted an additional £600m (U.S.$900m) to help clear the backlog and set a target of dealing with three-quarters of applications within two months by 2004. 

The actÕs most controversial element remains the introduction of the costly and demeaning voucher system to replace standard state benefits. Home Office figures show that vouchers worth £5.1m were distributed last year -- but the system actually cost £6.1m to administer.

The Act also introduced a £2,000 ($2,900) fine per stowaway for lorry drivers crossing the English Channel or elsewhere. 

Within months of the schemeÕs introduction, more than 200 hauliers had been apprehended and fined with the government estimating that trafficking had dropped by a quarter. 

All the leaders of BritainÕs main political parties have signed an agreement drawn up by the Commission for Racial Equality obliging them not to Òplay the race cardÓ in pre-election campaigning.
/ENDS
Sources: IISS, Reuters, Home Office